Kats Alive!
by Furlong 19
Summary: Four fans of the Swat Kats cartoon...two worlds...one dream about to revealed. Get ready; your reality is about to change forever!


Author's note: I don't own Swat Kats, Digimon, or any other idea and/or concept that you've seen before. I realize that through most of this fic, I have taken concepts from the third season of Digimon and put them in my fic. However, this fic DOES NOT HAVE ANYTHING TO DO WITH DIGIMON!!! Anyway, this is my first fic so please read and review!  
  
Swat Kats: The Radical Squadron  
Kats Alive!  
  
Oct 8, 2003 Downtown, Megakat City 11:35 p.m.  
The rain fell in sheets, turning roads into rivers as thunder roared and lightning streaked across the sky. Any kat unlucky enough to be homeless, or without an umbrella, was instantly drenched. Unfortunately, Al Caulfield happened to be just such a kat.  
  
"Gotta get away," he thought as he ran through a dark alley, "What do those guys want from me?! I didn't do anything! This is crazy!"  
  
His orange-red fur and ratty clothes were soaking wet from a combination of rainwater and sweat, the sweat from the always-hot days and nights of Megakat City. Suddenly, his heart stopped as he heard the sound that had been chasing him for nearly an hour;  
  
"Helicopters. They're chasing me with helicopters, for kat's sake! What could I have possibly done to have to be chased by helicopters!?" he whispered to himself.  
  
Fearing for his life he continued to run, ragged breaths escaping from his lungs. The sound of the helicopter's rotor blades grew closer as Al turned onto a wide, empty street. His heart leapt up to his throat as he realized that the street was a dead-end.  
  
With uncanny speed the helicopter landed smoothly onto the street, blowing bits of debris and trash everywhere; there was no one around to see this turn of events. The 'copter's searchlight was pointed directly into Al's face, preventing him from looking for an escape route. As he shielded his eyes he tried to catch a glimpse of the kats that had been chasing him but could see nothing except a dark figure.  
  
"WHO ARE YOU?!" he shouted out of anger and fear, "WHAT DO YOU WANT FROM ME?!"  
  
"Research data", said a low, calm, gravelly voice.  
  
As this bone-chilling information sunk into Al's brain, incredible pain suddenly surged through his body. Al's screams fell on deaf ears as the figure watched passively until Al fell to the ground, unconscious.  
  
Holstering his tazor, the figure signaled to the other two men, who began to put Al's body into the 'copter. He then pulled out a small cell phone, quickly dialed a number, and waited for an answer.  
  
"Yes?" stated the person on the line. "Sir," replied the figure, "We have successfully captured the target." "Excellent. We'll begin the experiments immediately upon your arrival." "Affirmative sir. Agent 5, over and out."  
  
The figure known as Agent 5 motioned for the pilot to begin takeoff. As the 'copter flew to its meeting point, Agent 5 stared in disgust at the unconscious man/cat amalgamation.  
  
"Hard to believe that this "thing" used to be in a children's cartoon. Still, it'll make for a fascinating test subject."  
  
He chuckled to himself as the 'copter lifted up into the sky, leaving the rest of Megakat City unaware of its breech. In an instant, a tall blue beam of hexadecimals shot out of the ground and into the sky, creating a curious bank of fog on the streets. The passing cars and pedestrians didn't notice anything at all; of course, that's how they, his men, had planned it; if they ever got caught, it would be difficult to explain a big blue beam of hexadecimals suddenly shooting out of the ground. Without so much as a ripple the 'copter flew directly into the beam and moments later, emerged into the warm, clear night of Key West. Agent 5 cracked a cold, predatory smile as he rode the rush of adrenaline that came with the thrill of the hunt. He felt no remorse for causing this creature pain; he was more of a dog person, really.  
  
Oct. 9, 2003 Key West, Florida 7:15 a.m.  
  
9-year-old Mickey Burnin quickly put on his favorite sleeveless red t-shirt as he popped his videotape into the VCR. The familiar rock 'n roll theme song of Swat Kats: The Radical Squadron was heard as he dressed in brown khaki shorts, socks, and his slightly oversized white sneakers. The familiar rush of adrenaline and excitement filled his body as he saw his heroes, nay, his idols, flash onto the screen. What could be better than this? It was Friday and, after attending the minor inconvenience of school, he would be able to watch the one Swat Kats episode that he hadn't seen. Until now.  
  
"This is gonna be sooo cool!" he thought as Night of the Dark Kat started to commence, "I'll finally have all of the episodes. Oh man, this is gonna be a great day!"  
  
"Mickey", called a pretty female voice, "Didn't you say you were going to meet Alex at the playground before school?"  
"Oh yeah," Mickey called back, "Thanks Mom!"  
  
Oh well. He had the whole weekend to watch the shows anyway. He quickly gathered his school supplies and threw them haphazardly into his backpack (he wasn't the most organized boy) and sprinted down the hall. In a symphony of stomps and sneaker squeals, Mickey came barreling downstairs and quickly reached for his routine chocolate fudge Poptart.  
  
"Mickey," his mother, Helen, said exsasperatly, "How many times have I told you not to charge down those stairs? You know we have guests that are trying to sleep!"  
  
Mickey grinned sheepishly and rubbed the back of his head with one hand. It was a habit that happened whenever he was embarrassed, thinking, or worrying. It helped to improve concentration (at least according to him).  
  
"Sorry Mom," he said, "I guess I forgot."  
  
Helen smiled at her son's apologetic grin. He was so cute and cheerful, even if he was too energetic and imaginative for his own good. She just couldn't get mad at a face like that.  
  
"Honestly," she remarked, "You're just like your father. Sometimes I feel like I'm raising two little boys."  
  
She playfully rubbed Mickey's head as he headed out the door at full speed.  
  
"Have a nice day at school honey!" she called out, "I love you!"  
  
"Love you too, Mom!" Mickey replied.  
  
As he turned the corner Mickey spotted a policeman just getting into his patrol car. He was tall and very muscular, with brown hair and a familiar playful twinkle in his eyes. The policeman spotted Mickey, smiled, and waved.  
  
"Bye Dad," Mickey called out, "Catch some bad guys for me!"  
  
Before his Dad could reply Mickey jogged down the street, unaware of what destiny had in store for him.  
  
After several blocks, Mickey began to ponder the same thing he pondered ever since he first watched the Swat Kats;  
  
"I wish they were real," he thought as he headed for the playground. "It would be so cool to fly in the Turbokat and fight bad guys like Dark Kat, Dr.Viper, Hardrive, or even Turmoil! I'd love to meet Chance and Jake and help them fix cars and come up with new missiles, like my Power Drain missile! They would be so impressed that a kid could come up with such an awesome design. Man, I wish they were real."  
  
Mickey suddenly stopped, an uncharacteristic frown spreading across his face.  
  
"Who am I kidding? The Swat Kats aren't real. They're just a cartoon show that got cancelled for no apparent reason. This isn't like Digimon; stuff like that doesn't happen in real life. This is reality were talking about."  
  
Still, there was no shame in pretending that it was real. As Mickey sprinted toward the nearby playground he failed to notice several storm clouds that appeared to be following him.  
  
Oct. 9, 2003 Chance and Jake's Auto Repair Shop Megakat City 7:15 a.m.  
  
In all of his 24 years, Chance "T-bone" Furlong could not think of a better cartoon show than Scaredy Kat. He loved it as a kitten and it just got better as he got older. He sat on the living room couch (although living room was an overstatement; it was really just a small room connected to the office and the repair pit), chowing down on a tuna fish sandwich, laughing his head off when Jake "Razor" Clawson entered the room.  
  
"Chance," he sighed, "You shouldn't rot your brain watching cartoons, it's bad for you. Besides, Scaredy Kat isn't even all that good."  
  
Chance looked up at his friend, a slightly annoyed expression on his face.  
  
"I'm gonna pretend I didn't hear that. Now, do ya mind? I've only seen this episode twice!"  
  
Jake shrugged and headed into the office. He hoped that the slow business they were having would continue all day; he had to assemble some new slicer missiles, courtesy of Darkcrud and his alloy-coated ship. Sometimes Jake wished that the bad guys would just take a vacation; Anakata Island was supposed to be nice this time of year.  
  
"Oh well. A vigilante's work is never done, I guess. Still, it would be nice to have some extra help once in a while."  
  
Chance's yelling brought Jake back to reality.  
  
"HEY JAKE! C'MERE, MAN! WATCH WHAT HAPPENS TO SCAREDY KAT!! IT'S SO FUNNY!"  
  
Jake smiled in spite of himself; at least he would be watching that stupid cartoon with his best buddy on Felinus. He sat down on the torn, battered couch and tried to act interested as Scaredy Kat was blown up for the millionth time while Chance continued to laugh his head off. After several minutes, the squeaking of brakes and the rumble of an engine were heard outside the yard. Chance's laughing abruptly stopped as he gritted his teeth in annoyance.  
  
"Aw, man. Sounds like the gruesome twosome are here."  
  
He turned to Jake, who had an expression of pure agony on his face.  
  
"Shall we?" Chance asked.  
  
"I guess so," replied Jake.  
  
With much reluctance, Jake and Chance got off of the couch and proceeded to the front of the yard.  
  
Oct.9, 2003 Key West 7:40 a.m.  
  
The Slicer Missile came out of nowhere, obliterating the defense shield in an instant.  
  
"Aw, man!" cried Alex. "I almost had you, too!"  
  
Mickey laughed triumphantly.  
  
"Well what can I say? I'm a super-genius!"  
  
Alex snorted, "Yeah right. Super doofus is more like it."  
  
Mickey smiled at his best friend, Alex Cattell. He had curly brown hair and several freckles on his nose. He was wearing a bright green polo shirt tucked into tan shorts. He was also just a bit upset, since Mickey hadn't beaten him at the Swat Kats card game in a while. Still glowing from his triumph, Mickey picked up his winning Slicer Missile card and prepared to slash it through the card reader.  
  
The card reader came with the Swat Kats Card Game Starter Set. It was about the size of a small graphing calculator: black in color with an insignia of T-Bone and Razor, from the waist up, back-to-back, flashing a thumbs-up. In the center was an LCD screen and underneath it were two rows of buttons numbered from one to zero. Whichever card won a battle, the player had to slash the card through a slit in the side of the reader. Microchips in the card would relay the data to the screen and the player would enter the 4-digit code on the back of the card. The card reader would store that information and keep track of how many battles that card had been used in and other such statistics.  
  
Mickey and Alex were playing in their favorite spot, a large plastic dinosaur at the community playground. A classroom-sized clock was embedded in the center of the dinosaur. Suddenly, Alex's digital watch began to beep.  
  
"Oh no," he cried, "We're gonna be late!"  
  
As Mickey scrambled to put all of the cards into his shoebox, Alex climbed down the steps, ran toward the school, and stopped to turn around.  
  
"Mickey, wouldja hurry up already! If we're late again, Ms. Sampson is gonna make us stand out in the hall!"  
  
"Ok," Mickey yelled back, "I'm almost done! Don't leave without me!"  
  
He started to reach for his backpack but didn't realize that the shoebox was near the edge of the ledge until his foot knocked the entire box down, spilling cards everywhere.  
  
"Aw man," he groaned.  
  
Mickey's frustration quickly turned to surprise as he spotted a card that he had never seen before; it had the Swat Kats insignia on it, like the back of all of his cards, but the entire card was blue and it seemed to be.shiny.  
  
Mickey leapt down and picked up the card, confusion running through his thoughts.  
  
"Weird. I don't remember having a card like this."  
  
Turning it over, he discovered that the front of the card was completely blank; no pictures of a missile or power-up, no stats, nothing. Mickey sighed in disappointment.  
  
"What a lousy card! You can't even use it in a game. Still, it is pretty cool. I wonder where it came from. Well, might as well see if it has any stats."  
  
Mickey picked up his card reader and slashed the card through the slit. In an instant, bright light shone out of the slit, causing Mickey to cry out in surprise and shield his eyes. He could just barely make out a curious ring of blue energy inching its way out of the card reader. Then, just like that, the light disappeared and it was over. Mickey looked around but could find nothing out of the ordinary. So what had just happened? This kind of thing didn't happen everyday! After several minutes of searching for anything out of the ordinary, Mickey suddenly remembered that he was supposed to be at school right now.  
  
"So much for my perfect day," he thought sarcastically. "First my card reader goes mental and now I'm late for school again!"  
  
He quickly gathered up cards, threw his backpack onto his shoulders, and leapt out of the dinosaur. Alex was nowhere to be seen.  
  
"Thanks for waiting, Alex," he grumbled.  
  
Running towards Key West Elementary, Mickey couldn't shake the feeling that something big was going to happen.but what?  
  
Chance and Jake were sitting in their secret hanger. Jake was working on missiles while Chance was still upset over their encounter with the gruesome twosome, Murray and Burke.  
  
"One of these days Jake," Chance growled, "One of these days I'm gonna stop being such a nice guy and kick both of their tails! I can't stand it when they make fun of your size! If they only knew how much tail you kick!"  
  
Jake looked up from his work and gave Chance a shy, appreciative smile.  
  
"Thanks for stickin' up for me buddy, really. I know how you feel, but don't forget if it weren't for those two we wouldn't be able to replace our weapons or upgrade the Turbokat."  
  
Chance sighed and leaned his head against the chair he was sitting in.  
  
"Yeah, you're right," he said as he flashed Jake what he referred to as The Smile.  
  
The Smile was Chance's patented, full-size grin that made tomkats want to smile back and made she-kats turn into babbling, love stricken piles of goo. The Smile, combined with his playful friendly nature, made it necessary for him to beat the she-kats off with a stick. Jake had to admit; whenever Chance smiled it lightened his mood considerably.  
  
Just then, a car horn was sounded at the top of the salvage yard. Chance's smile was amplified by his love struck eyes.  
  
"It's Callie!" he shouted with joy.  
  
Chance pulled off his hat, spit in his paw, and ran said paw through his hair. He then quickly proceeded up the ladder that led towards the office. Jake chuckled to himself as he watched Chance eagerly scramble up the ladder. Jake had a little crush on Callie, as any tomkat in his right mind would, but Chance was completely, head-over-heels in love with her, and while they joked about who would win her over first Jake sincerely hoped that it was Chance. Those two were made for each other.  
  
Reaching the repair pit, Chance and Jake were welcomed by the sight of a green sedan that had seen better days. They were welcomed more pleasantly by the smiling face of Calico "Callie" Briggs. Deputy Mayor Briggs was 5'6 with long blonde hair, green eyes, peach-colored fur, and glasses that made her look even more beautiful than she already was. Dressed in her typical pink suit, she greeted the two with a heart-melting smile and wave of her paw.  
  
"Hi guys! Looks like this crate needs another tune-up."  
  
Chance casually walked over to her and gave her The Smile.  
  
"No problem," he said smoothly, "What happened to it?"  
  
She exhaled a dreamy sigh and looked towards the sky.  
  
"It died after I hauled it all the way to Megakat Canyon to see the Swat Kats. They managed to defeat the Metallikats while all Feral could manage to do was look incompetent, as usual. They were magnificent!"  
  
Chance folded his massive arms against his equally massive chest.  
  
"Really!?"  
  
"Yes. Especially T-Bone. You should see the way he pilots the Turbokat. He's like a knight in shining armor riding his trusty stead!"  
  
Chance fought the urge to blush.  
  
"Ya don't say!?" he said in fake disbelief.  
  
Callie quickly shook her head, waking herself up from her daydream.  
  
"Anyway, when do you guys think I can pick up the car?" she asked as she tossed the keys to Jake.  
  
Jake smiled and put the keys in his pocket.  
  
"We'll get started on it right away!"  
  
Suddenly, the sharp blast of a horn came from the front. Callie looked towards the front and shook her head in agreement to the driver.  
  
"I gotta go guys. The Mayor is missing valuable golf time. See ya later!"  
  
As Callie exited, Chance let out a sigh and flopped down on the couch, disappointment written across his face. Jake was surprised by this behavior; normally he couldn't get Chance to shut up about Callie when she visited.  
  
"What's wrong with you?" he asked, "Didn't you hear that? She's crazy about you!"  
  
"Yeah," Chance sighed again, "Crazy about T-Bone. I don't think she even realizes I exist, and I don't blame her."  
  
Jake was curious now.  
  
"What do ya mean, Chance?"  
  
Chance sat up and leaned his head against the back of the couch.  
  
"She's a beautiful, kind, funny, brave, and respected she-kat who doesn't get the recognition she deserves. I'm just a grease monkey with no cash who doesn't get respect or recognition, period. She would never go for a guy like me."  
  
Before Jake could comfort his friend, Callie suddenly poked her head in through the door. She smiled another heart-melting smile.  
  
"Bye Chance," she said, her sexy voice filled with interest and flirtation. Before either of them could do anything, she left. Chance's face instantly lit up with love and self-assurance.  
  
"Did you hear that," he said confidently, "She's crazy about me!"  
  
Jake playfully rolled his eyes.  
  
C'mon, ladies kat," he said, "We've got missiles to build."  
  
Mickey sighed as he stood in the hall outside his fourth grade classroom. As he suspected, he was late for school and Ms. Sampson made him stand out in the hall while she continued to teach. He leaned against the wall, taking in the hot sun shining through the window. Through a window looking into the room Mickey's eyes fell onto one particular girl who was sitting in the back of the room. She was black, with her hair tied back into a bun by a pink scrunchie. She was wearing blue jean overall shorts (he wasn't sure what they were really called; they were just overalls that cut off at the knees) and a purple t-shirt underneath. She glanced his way and gave a brief smile; Mickey returned the smile with confusion.  
  
"Why am I looking at her? I've seen her in class everyday since school started. I must be really bored, it's not like I know her that well."  
  
Mickey was puzzled at his interest of her. He knew her name was Casie Taylor because of Ms. Sampson's daily role call, but they had never interacted with each other. He watched her stare intently at Ms. Sampson, as if everything she said was interesting.  
  
"I'll bet she gets all check pluses on her report card."  
  
Mickey smiled playfully.  
  
"Good grades sure wouldn't help her if she had to fight with the Swat Kats! She would be the kid that had to polish the missiles so they don't-  
  
Mickey's thoughts were cut short as he realized that he had his own missile to worry about. Sitting down, he rummaged through his backpack and pulled out a small notepad and several colored pencils. Flipping through pages of statistics and power levels, he finally settled on an unfinished missile that he had been designing for a month. It was shaped like a regular missile, but it had two cylindrical tubes sticking out of the sides. At the top of the paper, POWER DRAIN MISSILE was written in blue and red colored pencil. Picking up his black colored pencil, Mickey began to add on various shapes.  
  
"Now let's see," he whispered to himself, "If I make these tubes wider, they should be able to hold more energy. No one will ever expect this kind of missile, especially from the Glovatrix! Razor himself couldn't think of a better missile!"  
  
Flipping over a page, there was a pretty good drawing of T-Bone, his favorite character, holding up a Glovatrix. Mickey quickly sketched a Power Drain missile onto the glovatrix. It fit perfectly. As Mickey continued to mumble to himself he vaguely heard the sound of footsteps approaching his position by the door. He then heard a curious, but impatient, female voice.  
  
"Are you designing a Halloween costume?" the voice asked.  
  
A Halloween costume? What was she thinking? Without looking up, Mickey replied in an annoyed tone,  
  
"No, it's a Swat Kat! Don't you know any"-  
  
Mickey stopped his sentence as he looked up at the brown-haired, blue-eyed, slightly angry face of Ms. Sampson. Mickey's eyes went wide as he tried to forget that he had just talked back to the teacher. . . and hoped that the teacher would as well!  
  
"Well Mickey," she said authoritatively, "despite your apology earlier, I don't think you're very sorry for being late."  
  
Mickey smiled nervously, rubbed the back of his head and tried desperately to think of something to say. Standing up, he continued to smile and look as sorry as he felt.  
  
"Uhhh, yes ma'mm! I, I mean no ma'mm. No, actually I do mean yes ma'mm, I mean I love school and fourth grade and learning life's little lessons! But anyway I'm really, really sorry! Sorry!"  
  
Mickey's babbling was rewarded with laughter from his classmates and a required letter of apology to the teacher for talking back.  
  
Oct.9, 2003 2:55 p.m.  
  
A slight breeze began to pick up in Key West as several storm clouds were forming all over town. No one on the streets or in their homes noticed the blue lightening bolts streaking across the sky. Mickey was sprinting toward the playground, afraid that it might rain and his cards would be ruined. As he climbed up the ladder to the plastic dinosaur he failed to notice that the clock hands were spinning around in rapid circles. Climbing onto the ledge where his shoebox was, Mickey noticed a strange light shining through the shoebox top.  
  
"What the heck is that?" He wondered.  
  
Anxiously, he opened up the shoebox. The light was so bright that, at first, he had to shield his eyes. When they finally adjusted, he noticed the light had enveloped his card reader. With disbelief and amazement, Mickey watched as his card reader rapidly changed shape! After several seconds, a small beam of light shot out of the reader and began to form a completely different shape. As quickly as it had started, the light died down and Mickey was left staring, dumbfounded by what he saw.  
  
The card reader was now roughly the shape of an ice-cream cone, without the pointy tip of the cone. On the sides of the card reader, barely jutting out, were what appeared to be two slits; like the slit he used to slash his cards. In the center of the "ice-cream blob", there was a small LCD screen surrounded by a ring of red plastic; it reminded him of Callie's communicator. Underneath the ring were two vertical, cylindrical-shaped red buttons. At the very top of the device was a strip of red, soft plastic with a clip connected to it, the kind one would hook a belt. Slowly, as if in a dream, Mickey turned to look at the second object that had come out of the card reader. It was a normal-looking pair of black sunglasses; the kind Keanu Reeves had worn in The Matrix.  
  
"This has gotta be a dream! Stuff like this doesn't happen in real life!"  
  
Cautiously, Mickey reached down and picked up the device. It felt real and somehow he knew he wasn't dreaming, so what was going on?  
  
"I must be going crazy," he said to himself, "I'm inside a plastic  
dinosaur, holding my card reader that just changed into something else  
and a pair of sunglasses!"  
  
Still feeling as though he were in a dream Mickey put on the sunglasses. Strangely, things weren't tinted the way normal sunglasses made him see things; however he could see nothing out of the ordinary. Then, his mind asked the question that he was terrified, but needed to ask,  
  
"What if this is real? If it is, and this thing used to be my Swat Kats card reader, then maybe the Swat Kats are real, too!"  
  
Mickey felt a burst of excitement surge through his body. The Swat Kats might actually be real! It was so unbelievable, but it was awesome, too! Without another thought, Mickey quickly shoveled his cards into the shoebox, shoved the new card reader into his pocket, and raced towards home.  
  
Several minutes later, he burst into his house, vaguely noticing his Dad watching TV. His Dad, Mike, looked up with a mix of joy and confusion in his face.  
  
"Hi son," he said hesitantly, noticing his son's hurried behavior, "Learn anything interesting in school today?"  
  
Mickey slowed down just long enough to babble out, "Oh you know, the usual. Two plus two equals four and whatnot. Well I have homework to do. Call me when dinner's ready!"  
  
After Mickey raced up the stairs in record time, his mother approached Mike with a confused look.  
  
"I wonder what's gotten into him?" she asked.  
  
Mike smiled and shrugged his shoulders.  
  
"Well you know," he said, "He is a nine-year-old boy. He's just excited that it's Friday, that's all."  
  
Helen smiled and kissed her husband.  
  
"I suppose your right," she sighed.  
  
Mickey hurried into his room, locked his door, and dumped the entire contents of the shoebox onto the floor. He sifted through the cards, desperately looking for the blue card. After several minutes, Mickey stopped and stared blankly at the pile of cards.  
  
"It's gone," he thought, "But where did it go? Alex went home right after school. Man, I hope I can find it."  
  
Finally, Mickey stopped looking and sat on the edge of his bed, analyzing his new card reader. It was amazing how much the slits on the sides looked just like his old card reader; that's when an idea popped into Mickey's head. Digging through his backpack, he retrieved his notepad, flipped over to his Power Drain missile drawing, and attempted to slash the notepad through the slit. The notepad started to slide through but soon became stuck. Panic rushed through Mickey's body.  
  
"Oh no! Don't tell me I broke it already!"  
  
Still struggling with his notepad Mickey's mother announced that it was time for dinner. Mickey sighed; he wanted to get the notepad unstuck but he knew that his mom would want to introduce him to the new guests. Mickey's house was also a bed & breakfast. Burnin Hot Bed & Breakfast was usually busy this time of year due to tourist season and his mom and dad expected him to be polite and help the guests as much as possible; that included setting the table at meal times.  
  
As Mickey walked toward the door he heard a strange noise coming from behind him. Turning around, he stared in disbelief as the screen on his card reader started to glow bright red. As this was happening the notepad page containing his Power Drain missile was sliding through the slit. After it slid through, the pages with his PD missile statistics slid through as well. Mickey's disbelief grew as the pages became engulfed in a white light. Almost in slow motion, the pages moved toward each other and combined into one page. When the light died down Mickey cautiously approached his desk and stared in amazement; the pages had somehow combined to form a Swat Kats card, like the ones he played with. Picking the card up Mickey realized that the card had everything the pages contained about his PD missile; the stats, a picture, "Power-Drain Missile" written in black, red and blue letters, everything. It was as if the card had always existed!  
  
"Oooookay," Mickey thought nervously, "It's official. I've gone totally crazy! This can't be happening!"  
  
"Mickey," his mom called, "It's time for dinner!"  
  
"Uhhhh, o-okay Mom!" he replied back.  
  
But before he could move the screen started slowly flashing red again, only this time it made a soft beeping noise. On instinct, Mickey pressed left red button. Instantly, a strange, futuristic-looking screen appeared several inches above the card reader; it looked to him like a hologram. In the center a red arrow flashed and pointed directly north, like a compass. Confusion and disbelief still running through his thoughts, Mickey reluctantly headed downstairs.  
  
Oct.9, 2003 7:00 p.m.  
  
Mickey had hardly said a word at dinner (much to the amazement of his parents and regular guests). Now back in his room, Mickey tried to make some sense out of this unbelievable day.  
  
"I still can't believe that all of this really happened! I find that weird blue card, my card reader changes shape, my PD missile drawing changes into a card, and then that hologram, compass thingy pops up. I wonder what it was pointing to."  
  
Yawning, Mickey changed into his pajamas and crawled into bed, exhaustion suddenly taking over his body.  
  
"I guess I'll just figure it all out tomorrow."  
  
Mickey casually looked at his alarm clock, surprised at how early it was.  
  
"Another first. I'm willingly going to bed at 7 o' clock on a Friday!"  
  
Without a second thought, Mickey fell into a deep sleep.  
  
Oct.9, 2002 9:00 p.m.  
  
The first thing that woke Mickey up was the feeling of dry, hot wind blowing across his body. The second was the realization that he was floating about eight feet above the ground!  
  
"WHOA! OH MAN, HOW THE HECK DID I GET UP HERE?!!" He shouted.  
  
After several minutes, he noticed that he wasn't falling, he was still in his pajamas, and the buildings surrounding him were not from Key West. Looking around, Mickey decided that this place was more like New York City. Looking around some more he noticed a bank of fog covering the section of street directly below him. As it quickly dissipated, he could see two figures standing at opposite ends of each other. One was a little girl, looked to be the same age as him. Her auburn hair was tied in a bun, similar to Casie's but more spiky. She wore a white t-shirt with aqua sleeves and an aqua-colored heart in the middle with the legend, "Old Navy" written in glittery cursive. Her blue jean shorts were held up by a visible, black leather belt with holes in it. She also wore a pair of sunglasses similar to the ones that Mickey had obtained.  
  
The other figure was someone that looked eerily familiar to Mickey. He had a long, green body, similar to a snake, and wore only a white lab coat. In an instant, Mickey recognized him.  
  
"It's Dr. Viper! He's real. He's really real!! This is so cool! If Viper is here then this must be Megakat City!"  
  
Mickey returned his attention to the girl. After removing her sunglasses, Mickey noticed the look on her face; she meant business. Stepping closer to Dr. Viper, she finally spoke.  
  
"You better amscray, swamp breath," she called out, "Unless you think you can beat me!"  
  
Her voice was cool, confident, and a little bratty. Dr.Viper's eyes turned bright yellow with anger.  
  
"How dare you!" he shouted angrily. "You may be a ssssssmall child, but Dr. Viper doesn't take insultssssss from anyone!"  
  
With surprising speed, Viper leapt toward the girl, his claws unsheathed. To his horror, Mickey realized that the girl wasn't moving out of the way!  
  
"HEY!" he shouted, "GET OUT OF THE WAY! HE'S GONNA KILL YOU!"  
  
Either the girl couldn't hear him or decided to ignore him, because she stayed firmly in place. When Viper was only a few feet away, she pulled out a device that was identical to Mickey's card reader; the only difference was that all the things that were red on his were blue on hers. Reaching into a brown pouch clipped to her belt, she pulled out a Swat Kats card, crossed her arms, and slashed the card through the bottom slit. Fog began to swirl around her feet.  
  
"Digi-modify!" she called out.  
  
As soon as the card went completely through the slit, she shouted;  
  
"Defense shield activate!"  
  
In an instant, a wire-mesh pattern formed around her just as Dr. Viper lunged for her throat. Mickey watched in amazement as Viper repeatedly struck the shield, only to be pushed back.  
  
"WHAT IS THISSSSS?!!" he cried out in frustration.  
  
"It's my ticket to kicking your tail", the girl replied confidently.  
  
Mickey couldn't believe it; she had slashed a card through her card reader and it became real! Mickey's eyes were glued to the pair as they slowly circled each other. Finally, with great speed, the girl pulled out another card, repeated the ritual she had done before, and a glovatrix instantly formed on her hand.  
  
"Game over," she cried out, "Bola missile, deploy!"  
  
As she said this, a medium-sized, blue missile shot out of her glovatrix. Just before it hit Viper, a wire-mesh net burst out of the missile, completely trapping him. As he struggled to free himself, the girl walked casually up to him and pointed her card reader at him.  
  
"I swear," Dr. Viper angrily cried, "I'll destroy you, you pathetic child!"  
  
"Whatever," the girl replied nonchalantly.  
  
The girl pressed the right blue button on her card reader. A white beam of light shot out and enveloped Dr. Viper. Mickey watched the event in awestruck horror; Dr. Viper's skin was peeling off! Dr. Viper twisted in agony as his flesh was torn from his body. Strangely, there was no blood or organs under Viper's skin, only hundreds of tiny hexadecimals; it was as if his body was composed of computer data. Soon, even that began to disappear until Dr. Viper was no more. Smiling, the girl shoved her card reader back into her pocket.  
  
"That was too easy," she said confidently.  
  
Before he could make sense of any of this, Mickey felt a strange sensation come over his body. Everything became blurry and unrecognizable; suddenly, he found himself wide-awake back in his room. Mickey slowly sat up in his bed, trying desperately to figure what had just happened.  
  
"It had to have been a dream, but it was a lot longer than any dream I've ever had. It felt real, that's for sure. I was sweating because it was so hot. It must have been real, it had to be!"  
  
Mickey quickly got dressed, stuffed his card reader into his pocket, and headed downstairs for breakfast. His father was in the main living room, watching the news. Mickey decided to ask his father about the dream; he watched Swat Kats just as much as Mickey and maybe he had had a similar dream.  
  
"Dad, have you ever had a dream where you're floating above Megakat City and watching someone fighting Dr. Viper on the streets?"  
  
Mickey's dad stared at him blankly for a few minutes.  
  
"Uhhh. no," he replied, "Can't say that I have. Are you feeling alright?"  
  
"Yeah," Mickey sighed in disappointment, "Forget I said anything."  
  
Mickey wasn't surprised that his father didn't know what he was talking about, but it would have been nice to talk with someone who did. He headed into the kitchen and poured himself a bowl of Special K and a glass of orange juice. He had just finished his cereal when he heard a faint beeping sound coming from his shorts. Reaching into his pocket, Mickey pulled out his card reader and noticed that the screen was flashing red again. Pushing the left button, the same holographic compass appeared above his reader.  
  
"Maybe this thing really is a compass and it's trying to lead me somewhere," he thought, "I've gotta check it out. Maybe it'll lead me to Megakat City!"  
  
Mickey ran up to his room and grabbed his cards (in case he got a chance to challenge the Swat Kats to a duel). Since he was unsure of how long it would take, Mickey explained to his parents that he was going out for a while and wasn't sure how long he would be gone. With his card reader firmly in hand, Mickey started to follow the direction that the arrow pointed.  
  
Oct. 10, 2003 South Beach, Key West 11:00 a.m.  
  
After about an hour, Mickey found himself standing in an alley across from South Beach. The arrow on the compass had disappeared at this spot and the beeping had stopped as well. Mickey scanned the beach and surrounding streets, looking for anything unusual; all he could see was a crowded beach.  
  
"This sucks," he said to himself, "I've been out here for an hour and there's nothing here. Maybe this is all just a dream."  
  
Mickey took one last look, and then decided to go back home. As he started to walk away he heard a voice calling his name. Turning around, he saw Casie Taylor running up to him.  
  
"Hey Mickey!" she said as she stopped in front of him, "Whatcha lookin' for?"  
  
"Hi Casie," he said gloomily, "I was looking. for something and. I thought it was here. but it's not."  
  
Casie looked at him with confusion, then curiosity.  
  
"Did you follow the compass too?" she asked.  
  
Mickey stared in disbelief as she pulled out her card reader; it was exactly like his except that hers had purple on it instead of red. He looked in amazement as Casie pushed the left button on her reader and an identical hologram compass came up.  
  
"You're card reader changed too?" he asked in amazement.  
  
Casie smiled and nodded.  
  
"Yeah. Yesterday, I found this weird blue card, and when I slashed it through my card reader it turned into this and a pair of shades. This morning it started beeping so I pressed one of the buttons and this came up. I thought the arrow thingy might be a compass so I followed it and, well, here I am!"  
  
Mickey wasn't sure what surprised him more; the fact that there was more than one blue card or that a girl liked the Swat Kats. He smiled and pointed to his card reader.  
  
"I think our card readers were pointing to an entrance to Megakat City."  
  
It was Casie's turn to stare in amazement.  
  
"You really think Megakat City could be real? It would be so cool if it were! I'd love to go and sightsee!"  
  
"Don't hold your breath," Mickey replied, frowning again, "I've been here for an hour and I haven't seen anything weird."  
  
Casie crossed her arms, staring blankly at the ground as she tried to think of an explanation. Finally, she snapped her fingers and smiled.  
  
"The sunglasses!" she exclaimed brightly, "You have a pair of sunglasses, right? If we put them on, maybe we can see something!"  
  
Mickey grinned.  
  
"Good idea!" he said.  
  
They reached into their pockets, put on their glasses, and started to look around. Casie started to speak.  
  
"I don't see any.whoa!"  
  
Mickey looked in the direction she was looking and was stunned. In the middle of the alley there was a giant blue beam shooting out of the ground; he could make out hexadecimals in the beam and noticed a fog beginning to form around the alley.  
  
"This," he said in disbelief, "This must be the way to get to Megakat City! I don't believe this. We could be going to Megakat City!"  
  
Casie continued to stare, amazed at their discovery. She slowly turned her head to face Mickey, smiled, and nodded her head in agreement. Mickey let out a cry of excitement and grabbed Casie's hand.  
  
"Well, what are we waitin' for?" he exclaimed, "Let's go!"  
  
"Yeah," Casie shouted, "Let's hit it!"  
  
Without another word, Mickey and Casie ran straight into the beam. They were surrounded by blue energy and a light breeze blew across their bodies. Walking a short distance, Mickey could see light in front of them. Soon, they found themselves out of the beam and in a city that was definitely not Key West.  
  
October 10, 2003 Downtown, Megakat City 12:00 p.m.  
  
Mickey slowly took off his sunglasses and found he was awestruck for the second time that day. Surrounding them were huge skyscrapers, dwarfing the smaller restaurants and shops connected to them. On all sides of them people were casually moving about, talking on cell phones or staring nervously at their watches, only there was something different about these people; their bodies were covered in fur, they had cat ears, cat tails, and whiskers. They weren't human; they were kats!  
  
Mickey and Casie stared, their jaws dropping to the floor, unable, at first, to comprehend what they were seeing. After several minutes, Mickey finally spoke up.  
  
"I.I, I can't believe it," he said as his voice grew louder with excitement, "We're here! It's real, Megakat City is real! Oh man, oh man, oh man, this rocks!! We're in the real Megakat City!!"  
  
He literally jumped for joy, grabbed Casie, and swung her around in circles, laughing joyously; Casie soon joined him. Gradually they both calmed down enough to notice several kats giving them strange looks. Mickey smiled and rubbed the back of his head.  
  
"Uh.sorry," he said to the kats, "We came here for a vacation and we're just glad we finally made it."  
  
Mickey returned his attention to Casie, who was now glowing with happiness. Mickey smiled; maybe girls weren't so bad after all!  
  
"So.what should we do now?" Casie asked.  
  
"Dunno," Mickey replied. "I'm thinkin' we should try to find the salvage yard." I'm dying to meet Chance and Jake!"  
  
Mickey started to head down the street.  
  
"Wait!" Casie called, "We don't know how to get there."  
  
Mickey stopped and frowned; she had a point there.  
  
"If we could just get directions we'd be all set. Maybe someone on the streets knows."  
  
Mickey turned to face Casie.  
  
"No problem. We'll just ask for directions; there's bound to be someone here that knows."  
  
"Good idea," Casie replied enthusiastically, "And while we're at it, we can ask them questions that never got answered on the show."  
  
Mickey nodded in agreement as they both started their inquiries.  
  
Oct.10, 2003 Downtown, Megakat City 1:30 p.m.  
  
Mickey and Casie were exhausted, physically and emotionally. They had been on their feet for an hour and a half and Megakat City was just as hot as Key West. They had found out some interesting things about the Swat Kats' planet: It was called Felinus; it had existed for as long as Earth had, and the entire world was populated with just kats. There were no states or countries, only cities; just like a Final Fantasy game. The six continents were known as the NW continent, the SW continent, the E continent, the M continent, the SE continent, and the NE continent; Megakat City was on the NW continent. Mickey and Casie went into a restaurant to sit down, their minds reeling from the information they had discovered.  
  
"See," Mickey said, "I told you they lived on a different planet."  
  
Casie smiled and rolled her eyes.  
  
"Are you gonna rub that in my face all day? You're starting to act like your friend, Alex."  
  
Instead of giving a snappy comeback, Mickey simply smiled and reflected on their adventure so far; he was amazed at how quickly he and Casie had bonded.  
  
"She's pretty cool for a girl. I wonder if she's any good at the card game."  
  
He was also amazed at how quickly they had adjusted to being on an alien planet. Of the twenty or so kats that they had talked to, not one of them seemed to notice that Mickey and Casie were human. He wondered how that was possible; people in Key West would've definitely noticed a kat!  
  
"No point in thinking about it now, I guess. It might cause trouble if they noticed that we were different; to them, we'd be the aliens."  
  
They had found out from one kat that they needed to take the O train from downtown to the Katalina section in order to get to Chance and Jake's Salvage Yard. The O train station was right next to the restaurant, but the next train wouldn't come for another thirty minutes. Mickey and Casie continued to make small talk as they waited. After thirty minutes had passed Mickey stood up and stretched his arms.  
  
"Well, c'mon Casie," he mumbled threw a yawn, "Let's catch that two 'o clock O train."  
  
Casie stood up, a look of panic on her face.  
  
"It's two 'o clock?! Mickey, that guy said that the O train leaves at two o' clock! We need to be on it right now!"  
  
Mickey felt panic and fear surge through him; the kat had said that, hadn't he? Without another word, Mickey and Casie bolted from the restaurant, down the subway entrance, and straight to the ticket counter. A heavy-set tomkat in a red uniform informed them that the tickets would cost four dollars total. Mickey frantically searched his pockets and came up with two crumpled ten-dollar bills.  
  
"Good thing I decided to keep my allowance with me," he said to Casie.  
  
Casie stared at the twenty dollars in amazement.  
  
"Man, you sure get a lot," she said, "Is your family rich or something?"  
  
Mickey shook his head.  
  
"I'll tell you later," he said as he grabbed their tickets, "We gotta go now!"  
  
Mickey and Casie sprinted toward the subway train, pausing only briefly to apologize to the various kats they bumped into. They jumped into the train just as the doors were closing. As the train began to move, Mickey and Casie collapsed with exhaustion onto some seats.  
  
"We," Mickey said as he struggled to catch his breath, "We.made.it."  
  
Casie nodded, too out of breath to reply. Mickey scanned the compartment. It looked just like the subways he had seen on TV.  
  
"Only these subways are filled with alien kats. It's still hard to believe that Casie and I are actually in Megakat City!"  
  
As if she had read his mind, Casie exclaimed, "We must be the luckiest kids in the world!"  
  
"Don't be so sure of that!"  
  
They looked up in surprise to see a tall, lanky, sandy-colored kat in a grey shirt and shorts. Mickey's surprise instantly turned into fear as the kat pulled out a gun and fired a shot into the air. All around them, kats began screaming and lying down on the floor. The grey kat smirked.  
  
"All right!" he called out, "Y'all know the drill; paws where I can see 'em and wallets on the ground, let's move it!"  
  
Mickey had never been more scared in his life. He and Casie both got on the floor as the grey kat slowly walked away from them, searching every kat for their money. Mickey stole a glance at Casie and noticed that, while visibly scared, she was remaining calm and collected.  
  
"Wow, she's not even crying! There are grown-ups on this train who are freaking out more than her. She's pretty cool!"  
  
The sound of footsteps brought Mickey's attention towards the sky, as the grey kat stopped in front of him and kneeled down to face him. Mickey cringed at the sight of his face; his smile was cold and lifeless, much like his eyes.  
  
"All right, junior," he said curtly, "Any bubblegum money you got, I want!"  
  
Mickey was about to pass out with fear when suddenly, he felt a warm confidence pass through him. His body instantly relaxed as his mind prepared a plan of attack.  
  
"As soon as he stands up, do a low kick to the legs. Once he's doubled over use a medium kick to the gut and then a chop to the neck to bring him down."  
  
Apparently, the grey kat was no longer interested in Mickey because he moved next to him to face Casie.  
  
"Feel lucky now, little girl?" he taunted.  
  
Mickey watched as Casie looked up at him. She didn't look scared; she actually looked like she pitied him.  
  
"Please sir," she pleaded calmly, "Please leave us alone. You have everyone's money, so just go away!"  
  
The grey kat growled in outrage.  
  
"You're tellin' me what to do!? You just made a big mistake!"  
  
The grey kat quickly stood up.  
  
"Ya got that right!" Mickey cried.  
  
Before he even knew what he was doing, Mickey felt his right leg thrust outward and kick the grey kat's legs. The grey kat cried out in surprise as Mickey stood up and clenched his arms. His muscles felt like liquid steel as he executed a perfect medium kick to the kat's stomach. The grey kat began to wheeze and clutch his stomach in pain. With laser-like precision, Mickey raised his left arm and brought it down on the grey kat's neck. The grey kat fell to the floor, unconscious. For a moment, the kats in the train compartment were completely silent; they couldn't believe that a little kitten like him just KO'd a kat twice his size with a gun, no less. Soon, the compartment filled with clapping and cheers as Mickey, Casie, and several other passengers detained the grey kat.  
  
October 10, 2002 Katalina, Megakat City 2:20 p.m.  
  
The subway train had arrived, along with feelings of gratitude and relief that the grey kat had been stopped. Everyone got their money and jewelry back, and the enforcers were waiting at the station with pawcuffs for the grey kat. As the grey kat was led away, Mickey reflected on what he had done. He had used a set of karate moves that seemed very complex to him, but had been embarrassingly easy to execute. There was just one problem; he didn't know the first thing about karate!  
  
"It was so strange," he explained to Casie as they walked out of the station, "It was like I had known how to do those moves for years. I wasn't even afraid; I actually wanted that guy to try and attack me!"  
  
Casie listened in amazement.  
  
"Yeah," she replied, "I felt something weird on the train, too. When the grey kat started talking to me, I felt really confident all of a sudden. It was like he couldn't scare me because I knew that I could take him down easily, you know?"  
  
Mickey stood silent for a minute, lost in thought. Soon he shrugged his shoulders.  
  
"Oh well," he said, "I guess we'll figure it out later. Let's head to the Salvage Yard!"  
  
Mickey and Casie exited the station and proceeded down the block.  
  
Oct.10, 2003 Chance and Jake's Auto Repair Shop 2:30 p.m.  
  
The alarm in the hangar began to buzz. Chance and Jake abandoned the car they were working on and headed down to the hangar.  
  
"I knew this day was too good to last," Jake said sarcastically as Chance reached the phone.  
  
"Hey, any day we get to see Callie twice is a good day for me!" Chance replied with a smile.  
  
Chance picked up the phone and pressed the communication button.  
  
"Yes, Ms. Briggs?"  
  
"Swat Kats, I just saw Dark Kat's ship fly over City Hall. He hasn't done anything illegal, but I'd feel better if you two went to check it out."  
  
"You got it, Ms. Briggs. We're on our way."  
  
Chance hung up the phone. As he and Jake started changing into their flight suits, Jake wondered aloud.  
  
"I wonder what Dark Kat is planning. I doubt he's just going for an afternoon drive."  
  
"Roger that," agreed Chance, now dressed as T-Bone, "Well, there's only one way to find out. Let's rock 'n roll!"  
  
With cat-like speed, T-Bone and Razor jumped into the Turbokat. Razor felt his stomach clench as T-Bone turned up the thrusters to full power.  
  
"Please T-Bone," he thought, "go easy on the thrusters. I don't want to pass out too many times this week."  
  
The Turbokat quickly pulled away from the hangar's secret entrance and rose into the sky. T-Bone grinned; Man, he loved his job.  
  
"I get to protect the city with my best friend, I don't have to listen to Feral give some lame-brain excuse as to why saving lives is irrelevant if we break something, and we get all the ladies we want. Life is good!"  
  
With that thought, T-Bone pulled a corkscrew and rocketed through the sky.  
  
Mickey and Casie couldn't believe it; they had just seen the Turbokat fly off into the distance. They proceeded to run to the salvage yard.  
  
"Callie must've called them," Casie said as they stopped in front of the entrance. Mickey surveyed the salvage yard; it looked like a regular dump, but there were more airplane parts than garbage.  
  
"Man, no wonder the Turbokat always looks new," Mickey commented, "They have enough scrap to build another one if they needed to."  
  
They walked into the shop directly in the center of the yard. The front of the shop looked like an ordinary waiting room: a counter, chairs, and a table with magazines like Chic and National Continental. In the back was a hall with five rooms: two on the left and right and one at the end. The room at the end was the only room with the door closed. Mickey decided that that room must lead down into the hangar. As Mickey walked behind the counter, Casie lightly grabbed his shoulder.  
  
"What are you doing?!" she cried, "You can't go back there, that's trespassing!"  
  
"I know," Mickey said calmly, " but that door could lead to their hangar and I wanna check and see. Besides, they're not even here; you saw them take off in the Turbokat."  
  
"But-  
  
"Look," Mickey replied with a hint of annoyance, "it's not like we're gonna steal anything. I just wanna take a quick look and then we can go. Ok?"  
  
Casie reluctantly agreed; she was curious to see the hangar as well. Before they could go any further, they heard a familiar beeping. Reaching into their pockets, Mickey and Casie pulled out their card readers and pressed the left buttons. The compasses came up with their arrows pointing in the direction that the Turbokat had flown in.  
  
"Now what?" Casie asked.  
  
"Maybe they're pointing to another one of those beams?" Mickey offered. Casie smiled and snapped her fingers(a gesture that Mickey felt was a habit).  
  
"Wasn't the Turbokat heading in this direction? Maybe they're leading us to wherever the Swat Kats are going."  
  
Mickey smiled.  
  
"I think you're right. Well, let's go and help 'em out!"  
  
As quickly as they could Mickey and Casie followed their compasses into the city.  
  
Oct.10, 2002 Downtown, Katalina 2:50 p.m.  
  
From the cockpit of his jet, Dark Kat sneered as he observed the citizens of Megakat City going about their daily business; he hated them with a passion!  
  
"Pathetic, selfish, and intellectually inferior but easily manipulated," Dark Kat pondered to himself, "They don't deserve to live! Luckily for them, I'm feeling generous today."  
  
Dark Kat walked down the long corridor of his jet and pushed through the wall into a secret room. He stopped before the large laser being constructed in the room. Several creeplings surrounded the laser doing various tasks such as connecting wires, tightening bolts, and securing tubes. Dark Kat smiled at his latest device; not even those meddling Swat Kats could stop this laser!  
  
"With this laser, I'll be able to cut through any material known to kat. I will use it to destroy Megakat City; then, like a phoenix rising from the ashes, a new city, Dark Kat City, will rise, where only the most loyal kats will have the honor of being my slaves!"  
  
Dark Kat could no longer contain his happiness as he laughed triumphantly; within an hour, Megakat City would bow before him and tremble! The best part was that no one would be able to see him; he had activated his stealth shield. Entering the cockpit again, Dark Kat took one last look at his future utopia before making the final preparations.  
  
Oct.10, 2003 Downtown, Katalina 3:00 p.m.  
  
Mickey and Casie were now back in the city, a little confused by their current location. The card readers had led them into the middle of a closed- off street. They couldn't see anything, even when they put on their shades.  
  
"I don't get it," Mickey said, "Why did our card readers lead us here?"  
  
Casie shrugged her shoulders.  
  
"Maybe we took a wrong turn somewhere. I say we get off this street and keep looking."  
  
Mickey wasn't so sure that was a good idea.  
  
"I don't know," he replied. "I just have this feeling that something is here, something big."  
  
"Well then, let's take a look around. It couldn't hurt."  
  
Mickey and Casie started looking for anything out of the ordinary, but still couldn't find anything. As Mickey walked toward the middle of the street, he turned toward Casie.  
  
"Maybe you were right," he called out, "I don't see-ow!"  
  
Mickey had just walked into something big, he was sure of it, but nothing was there; it was as if the object were invisible or something. Slowly, Mickey started to touch the air around him. Directly in front of him, he felt a large, sleek object.  
  
"HEY CASIE," he yelled, "C'MERE! I THINK I FOUND SOMETHING!!"  
  
Casie ran to his side while Mickey felt the air frantically, trying to make out the shape of the object.  
  
"What do you think it is?" she asked.  
  
Before he could answer, Mickey suddenly fell forward and found himself inside what appeared to be the cargo hold of a plane. A few moments later, Casie fell right on top of him.  
  
"Wow!" Mickey exclaimed, "An invisible jet! Awesome!"  
  
Casie stood up, feeling anxious; she could've sworn she had seen the inside of this jet before, but where? Taking in the surroundings, Mickey saw that a long hall lay before them with a door at the end.  
  
"Um, Mickey," Casie said nervously, "I think I recognize this jet."  
  
Mickey started to move towards the door before he stopped; he had the sudden feeling that he recognized the jet as well.  
  
"Why do I feel like I know this jet? The only jets I've seen on the show were the Turbokat, and..."  
  
Mickey froze; he remembered where he saw this ship. It was in Night of the Dark Kat, when Feral snuck aboard Dark Kat's ship to stop him from activating his Doomsday device.  
  
"I know where we are," Mickey said in a hushed whisper, "This is Dark Kat's jet!"  
  
They looked at each other with similar expressions of fear; neither of them had planned on meeting Dark Kat face to face.  
  
"Let's get out of here," Casie pleaded, "If Dark Kat finds us, I don't think he'll want to give us milk and cookies!"  
  
Casie started to walk towards the exit, when she turned around and stopped; Mickey was moving towards the other door!  
  
"Mickey, are you crazy?!" Casie cried.  
  
Mickey turned to look at her; the seriousness on his face surprised her.  
  
"Maybe. But I can't just leave. Anytime Dark Kat shows up you know that he's planning to do something terrible. I can't just stand by and let innocent kats get hurt! If we want to be a part of the Swat Kats team, then we need to start acting like it! Besides."  
  
Mickey grinned and rubbed the back of his head.  
  
"We can't keep sightseeing if there isn't a city left to see!"  
  
Casie smiled; there was a lot more to Mickey then she thought.  
  
"Wellllll," Casie said, "When you put it like that.let's go!"  
  
Mickey and Casie proceeded towards the door, quietly discussing a plan of attack.  
  
"Razor, are you sure you're readin' that scanner, right?" T-Bone asked as the Turbokat hovered over the empty street.  
  
"Affirmative, buddy. I can't see it, but there's definitely somethin' here."  
  
The brawny pilot knew better then to question his partner's inventions but, for the nine lives of him, he couldn't see anything on or around that street! Suddenly, an idea popped into his head.  
  
"Maybe this thing's got a stealth shield on!"  
  
Razor smiled.  
  
"Then I have just the missile for it. Launching Scrambler missile!"  
  
With the push of a button, a large missile was fired out of the Turbokat and into the street below. Just before hitting the asphalt, the missile exploded and instantly revealed a red, purple, and black colored ship.  
  
"Bingo," Razor cried joyfully, "You're smarter than you look, T- Bone."  
  
Never one to miss out on a joke, even if it was on himself, T-Bone countered;  
  
"That's a good thing, right?"  
  
Both Swat Kats took a few minutes to chuckle; it helped keep the stress levels to a minimum.  
  
"Ok," T-Bone reluctantly said, "Let's get down there and kick that big purple freak's tail!"  
  
"Gotcha!" Razor replied, "Deploying Cyclotrons!"  
  
After landing several feet from Dark Kat's jet, T-Bone and Razor exited the Turbokat through special hatches designed to drop them onto two Cyclotrons underneath. Revving the engines, they sped out through the landing hatch and straight toward the back of the jet. As they reached the open back hatch, Razor did a wheelie into a 360 before stopping. T-Bone stopped beside him with an amused look on his face.  
  
"Show off," he said.  
  
Razor just grinned as they both loaded their Glovatrixes. Entering the hatch, they fanned out in a standard sweep. The cargo bay was full of boxes, big enough for anyone to hide behind. Glovatrixes raised, they proceeded into the next room. As they entered, T-Bone could just make out the sleeve of a purple shirt as the door in front of them closed.  
  
"Did you see that?" he asked his partner.  
  
"Yeah," Razor said, "It didn't look like a piece of Dark Kat's clothing. Maybe there's someone else on board?"  
  
"I hope not," T-Bone sighed, "the last thing I want is a shootout with Dark Crud with civilians involved."  
  
Razor nodded his head in agreement as they proceeded down the hall to the next door.  
  
"I think I hear something," Casie whispered.  
  
Mickey pressed his left ear against the wall next to the door they had just entered; he heard at least two different voices.  
  
"There's at least two kats on the other side," Mickey reported, "It sounds like they're coming this way."  
  
Casie's face lit up.  
  
"Maybe it's the Swat Kats!" she exclaimed quietly, "They tracked Dark Kat's jet on the Turbokat's radar and now they're coming to get him!"  
  
Mickey frowned as he pondered over her assessment.  
  
"Maybe," Mickey said slowly, "But it could be Dark Kat talking to one of his creeplings. I'm not sure."  
  
Casie casually leaned against the wall.  
  
"Ok, so what do we-whoaaa!"  
  
Her sentence was cut short as she somehow fell through the wall! Mickey rushed over to her. A section of the wall had opened up, revealing a small room.  
  
"Whoa, a secret passage!" Mickey said in amazement, "Dude, that's sweet!"  
  
Before Casie could reply, they heard the voices in the next room grow louder; it sounded like they were only a couple of feet from the door!  
  
"What do we do?" Casie said in a panicked tone.  
  
"I think we should hide in here," Mickey explained, "If it's Dark Kat and his creeplings then we can hide here until he leaves; if we stay out here and it turns out to be the Swat Kats, they might think we're Dark Kat and accidentally shoot us."  
  
"Wow," Casie said, "You're pretty smart, Mickey!"  
  
Mickey smiled and rubbed the back of his head as they entered the room and closed the door.  
  
Dark Kat had stopped at the end of the door; he could have sworn he heard voices on the other side. He felt his rage swell up like an erupting volcano; who would dare violate his sanctuary!? Who would be foolish enough to do that!!?  
  
"Of course," he said to the gaggle of creeplings following him, "Those pesky Swat Kats! Well my creeplings, I think we should give them a warm welcome, don't you?"  
  
The creeplings agreed, babbling in a language that only Dark Kat understood. Dark Kat entered into the next room, vaguely noticing that the secret room carrying his laser was in here.  
  
As if on cue, the Swat Kats entered the room from the opposite side. Upon noticing Dark Kat, they rolled to opposite sides of the room and raised their Glovatrixes.  
  
"Pizza delivery!" the big one called out.  
  
Dark Kat smiled as he raised his gun; this was going to be enjoyable!  
  
Through a tiny hole in the door, Mickey could just make out a black mask with white slits and a blue helmet with the Swat Kats insignia on it. Mickey could hardly contain his excitement; he was definitely staring at one of the Swat Kats!  
  
"Mickey," Casie called from behind him, "C'mere, you gotta see this!"  
  
He turned around and found himself staring at a large laser composed of tubes. In the center of the laser was a circular opening with a tiny vial of purple liquid resting inside. The purple color stood out against the entirely white laser. Mickey walked over and cautiously touched the vial; it felt like glass to him. Close to the opening was a tiny switch.  
  
"I wonder what this does?" he murmured.  
  
Flicking the switch, Mickey and Casie were awarded with a small line of light that inched its way throughout the entire laser, before finally entering the purple vial. As soon as the light made contact with the purple liquid, heat and light began to converge at the barrel of the laser. Suddenly, it all made sense to Casie.  
  
"The stuff in this vial must be what powers the laser," she said.  
  
"Looks like it", Mickey replied.  
  
Mickey flicked the switch again, causing the laser to turn off. He then reached into the opening and pulled out the vial.  
  
"What are you doing?" Casie asked.  
  
"If this purple stuff powers up the laser, then the laser should be useless without it. As long as we have this, then Dark Kat can't use it to hurt anyone, you know?"  
  
Out in the hall, they could no longer hear the sounds of fighting. Looking through the crack, Mickey and Casie saw that the Swat Kats and Dark Kat were gone.  
  
"Maybe they took it outside, or to another room?" Mickey offered.  
  
"Yeah maybe," Casie said, "but either way, I think we should get out of here. Dark Kat won't be too happy when he finds out that this thing's missing."  
  
Mickey nodded, but before they could do anything, they heard the footsteps of a very large something coming there way. Mickey looked at Casie with fear in his eyes.  
  
"There's only one kat I know that's big enough to make those footsteps!"  
  
Looking around the room, Mickey and Casie saw a crate large enough to hide both of them. They dove behind it just as the door opened. Through the slits in the crate, they could make out a black robe and a purple foot. Mickey had a feeling as to who that foot belonged to.  
  
"But if Dark Kat is here, then where are T-Bone and Razor? They couldn't have left and they're too cool to be dead."  
  
Suddenly, Dark Kat spoke.  
  
"Foolish Swat Kats! I never expected them to fall for my hologram duplicate. While they're fighting it out on the streets, I can make my escape!"  
  
For one heart stopping moment, Mickey thought that Dark Kat had seen them and was actually talking to them! Thankfully, Dark Kat turned around and left. Casie stood up.  
  
"Can we go now, please?" she pleaded.  
  
"You don't have to ask me twice!" Mickey said as they exited the room. They made it off the jet just as it was taking off. After it was gone, Mickey turned to Casie.  
  
"One thing's for sure; this place sure ain't boring!" he mused, causing Casie to laugh.  
  
Suddenly they heard a voice from behind them.  
  
"Aw, man. I can't believe I missed meeting the real Dark Kat!"  
  
Mickey and Casie quickly turned around to find a human boy their age. He had neck-length, jet-black hair, and olive skin. He was wearing a blue shirt tucked into blue jean shorts.  
  
"Great, now what?" Mickey thought sarcastically.  
  
Dark Kat had already been mad enough; the Swat Kats had the nerve to invade his jet and attempt to thwart his plans and he had a colossal headache, courtesy of one of their silly missiles. But ever since he discovered that his Katalyst 234 had been stolen (by two small children, no less) he had been seeing red. He banged his paw against the walls of the cockpit; they thought he hadn't seen them but they didn't realize that his senses were much more heightened than a normal kats. He had planned to capture them and hold them hostage, but that required obtaining restraints from the other side of the jet. Once he came back, he found them gone along with the vial that powered the laser.  
  
"If those two naughty children think they can steal from me, then they are making a fatal mistake!" he shouted to several creeplings.  
  
After several minutes, and many fist-sized indentations in the walls, Dark Kat calmed down enough to make his way back to his lair. As he approached the entrance, he was already forming a plan for his revenge.  
  
"Let them run around the city for a little longer; let them enjoy their last few moments of life. When the time comes, I'll find them and then I will kill them, quickly of course. Dragging their deaths out would just be cruel."  
  
Dark Kat laughed; his compassion sometimes even amazed himself.  
  
Oct.10, 2002 Downtown, Katalina 3:30 p.m.  
  
Mickey felt his body tense up as the boy approached him; by the smile on his face, Mickey didn't think he was dangerous. Still, he was quickly learning that in Megakat City, anyone and anything could be dangerous. The boy spoke up.  
  
"Whoa, I thought I was the only one who came here. Did you guys find a blue card, too?"  
  
Casie, who was more trusting, smiled.  
  
"Yeah, we did. Did your card reader change and give you a pair of sunglasses?"  
  
The boy nodded as he pulled out his card reader; it was identical to theirs, except his had green on it. Mickey relaxed and smiled; this kid was no threat; he was just another boy who found the blue card. Mickey approached him and shook his hand.  
  
"My name's Mickey Burnin, and this is Casie Taylor. Nice to meet ya!"  
  
The boy nodded.  
  
"I'm Nick, Nick Mancini," he replied.  
  
Mickey hadn't noticed it before, but Nick had a backpack on his shoulders.  
  
"So Nick," Casie said, "What's in the backpack?"  
  
Nick grinned.  
  
"I'll show ya."  
  
Unzipping his backpack, Nick pulled out a very big, and very expensive looking, PC.  
  
"Nice laptop, Izzy," Mickey chuckled.  
  
Nick playfully stuck out his tongue as he put the PC back into his backpack.  
  
"So, have you guys done anything interesting yet?" he asked.  
  
Mickey and Casie looked at each other with knowing smiles.  
  
"We better sit down Nick," he said as they made their way towards a bench, "This could take a while."  
  
Oct.10, 2003 Chance and Jake's Auto Repair Shop 3:50 p.m.  
  
"I can't believe we didn't figure out that we were fighting a hologram!" Jake complained as he and Chance were working on a car.  
  
"Chill out, dude," Chance said softly, "It coulda happened to anybody. Look on the bright side; at least Feral didn't get there in time to see us."  
  
Jake smiled.  
  
"Yeah. Three years since we were kicked out of the force and he still hasn't bought a decent watch!"  
  
Chance laughed as they headed into the kitchen for some cans of milk. While they were drinking, Jake wondered about the kat or kats that they had seen on Dark Kat's jet.  
  
"Maybe they were undercover enforcers or even MBI or MIA agents. Well, guess there's no point worrying about it now; we gotta figure out what Dark Kat is planning!"  
  
They headed down into the weight room, changed into their sweats, and started lifting weights. As Chance did curls on the barbells, Jake was once again struck by the size of Chance. Not only was he 6'5, but his arms were almost wider than Jake's entire body and his chest and torso spanned at least two kats. Chance was 325 pounds of solid muscle and Jake was still amazed that he was able to bench press 800 pounds; amazed and a little envious.  
  
"So," Chance said in between lifts, "What do you think Dark Kat is up to?"  
  
"Dunno," Jake replied as he ran on the treadmill, "I think we should go back out and see for ourselves."  
  
"Cool, but we should avoid any enforcers; technically, Dark Kat hasn't done anything against the law yet."  
  
An hour later, they had taken to the skies again. They had transformed from ordinary auto mechanics into the tail-kicking, beloved, vigilante heroes known as the Swat Kats!  
  
Oct.10, 2002 Downtown, Katalina 4:50 p.m.  
  
Mickey and Casie had just finished telling Nick about their adventures up until they had met him. Even though they had just met, Mickey already liked Nick; he was smart, funny, and loved the Swat Kats just as much as he and Casie did. He was in fourth grade, but was in a different part of the school then Mickey and Casie's class. His family was Italian and he could speak it fluently. He was also amazingly good with computers, as evident by the prototype Swat Kats fan page that he had shown them. When the sun began to set, Casie started to get worried.  
  
"I think we should get home, it's getting pretty late," she told them as they walked down the street.  
  
Nick stopped, a disappointed look spreading across his face.  
  
"But we haven't met the Swat Kats yet. Besides, who knows if we'll ever be able to come back here?"  
  
"And who knows if we'll ever be able to get back home?" she countered, "For all we know, we could be stuck here forever if we don't leave now."  
  
Simultaneously, Casie and Nick turned to look at Mickey.  
  
"What, like I'm supposed to decide? I didn't ask to be the leader!" he said as he threw up his arms.  
  
Nick nodded his head in disagreement.  
  
"No, but you're really good at it, I can already tell."  
  
Casie smiled.  
  
"Yeah, if it weren't for your quick thinking we wouldn't have made it off of Dark Kat's jet. And, if it weren't for your bravery who knows what that kat in the subway would've done."  
  
Mickey grinned and rubbed the back of his head; he never thought that he was that good a leader!  
  
"Well," he said turning serious again, "I think we should stay a little longer; like Nick said, we don't know if we can ever come back here again. Besides, we're carrying something important with us."  
  
As he said this Mickey pulled out the vial of purple fluid. Nick stared at the vial worriedly.  
  
"It's a good thing Dark Kat didn't see you guys take it," he said, "Otherwise, he might've killed you!"  
  
Mickey put the vial back in his pocket.  
  
"Anyway, I say we've gotta stay because we need to give this to the Swat Kats so they can get rid of it. That way, Dark Kat can't use it and we get to meet the Swat Kats at the same time."  
  
"Sounds good," Nick said as he gave Mickey a classic Navy salute, "Lead the way, Mr. Leader!"  
  
Mickey and Casie laughed as they headed down the street towards the salvage yard. Suddenly, Casie yelled at them to stop.  
  
"What's up, Casie?" Mickey asked.  
  
"Well," she said, "I agree that we should stay here, but I think we should give the vial to Commander Feral."  
  
Mickey and Nick looked at her like she had lobsters coming out of her nose.  
  
"Are you crazy?!" Mickey cried in disbelief, "Feral couldn't keep track of a bowling ball in a paper bag!"  
  
"I know," Casie said defensively, "But it would make more sense to give it to him; if someone sees us giving a vial of weird purple goo to a couple of auto mechanics, they might tell the enforcers. That could lead to Commander Feral going over to the salvage yard to investigate and we don't want that, do we?"  
  
Nick sighed.  
  
"She's got a point, Mickey."  
  
Mickey thought for a few moments, and then shook his head.  
  
"All right," he said, "Let's head to Enforcer Headquarters."  
  
After getting directions from a nearby she kat, they headed down the block. Soon they arrived at the towering skyscraper that was Enforcer Headquarters.  
  
"Wow!" Casie said as they looked up to the top in awe, "This place is huge!"  
  
"Yeah," Nick said, "Chance and Jake'll never be able to pay back the debt for this place!"  
  
Mickey rubbed his temples; he was already getting a headache from having to talk to Commander Feral.  
  
"Well," he sighed, "let's get this over with."  
  
They entered the building, located the floor with Commander Feral's office, and headed up there by elevator.  
  
Oct.10, 2003 Enforcer Headquarters 5:10 p.m.  
  
Lt. Felina Feral yawned as she leaned back into her office chair. As usual, her uncle was working them all to the bone. If someone attacked the city he wanted them to be the first on the scene; hopefully it would prevent interference from "those dangerous vigilantes".  
  
"Instead of wasting time trying to bring power and glory to himself, he should be focusing on how to train enforcers to better handle situations."  
  
She sighed; she loved her uncle but he was the most stubborn, pompous, elitist, power-hungry jerk she had ever met. Why he refused to acknowledge that the Swat Kats saved the city from destruction numerous times was beyond her. She glanced at her watch, her mind and stomach telling her that it was time for dinner. As she bent down to pick up her purse, a high- pitched voice politely called out.  
  
"Excuse me."  
  
She looked up and saw three little kittens standing by her desk.  
  
"Can I help you?" she asked.  
  
The boy in the red shirt spoke up.  
  
"Is Commander Feral here? We kinda need to talk to him, it's really important."  
  
Felina smiled; they were awfully cute, but he was definitely the cutest. He had a smile that could light up a room. He reminded her of a certain vigilante that she had a crush on.  
  
"Yes, he's in his office. Do you guys think you can wait here while I see if he's busy?"  
  
All three nodded. As Felina walked to her uncle's office, she found that her mood had lightened.  
  
"I wonder if I'll ever have kittens as cute as them. It'd be nice!"  
  
Soon, Felina returned and told them it would only be a few minutes. Mickey and Casie collapsed onto a couple of chairs, exhaustion suddenly overwhelming them. Nick sat down beside them, pulled out his PC, and started typing rapidly.  
  
"What are you doing?" Mickey asked sleepily.  
  
"I'm typing down all the important things I see so I can put them on my website."  
  
Casie looked at him with a puzzled look.  
  
"But all you've really seen is Felina," she said.  
  
A dreamy smile spread across Nick's face.  
  
"I know," he said softly.  
  
And so, the conversation turned towards whom had a crush on which character until Felina stated that the Commander was ready to see him.  
  
Dark Kat's radar started to beep rapidly as it came across the Katalyst. However, his relief turned into frustration as he realized that the Katalyst was in Enforcer Headquarters. As much as he would've enjoyed it, he couldn't just storm in and take it; he was severely outnumbered.  
  
"Still, there must be a way to lure those kittens out of the building."  
  
Dark Kat smiled as an idea popped into his head. Maybe he could "persuade" them to come out; a few bullets could persuade anyone to do anything.  
"I'll just wait until they're in a deserted room or hallway, then when they think they're safe I'll kill them! Assuming those blasted Swat Kats don't show up, nothing can go wrong!"  
  
Dark Kat chuckled as he activated his new stealth shield and proceeded to circle the building.  
  
Oct.10, 2002 Enforcer Headquarters 5:15 p.m.  
  
Commander Ulysses Feral was exactly the same as he was in the cartoon, physically and personally. He was about 6'6 with dark brown fur and yellow eyes. A Commander's uniform was wrapped around his brawny frame and a cane was leaning against the side of his desk. From the moment they walked into his office, Mickey could tell that he was the same power-hungry jerk that he hated on the show.  
  
"Let's get one thing clear," he said curtly, "I don't like to play games, so if this is a childish prank I suggest you three leave now! I'm much too important to have my time wasted by things like that!"  
  
Mickey noticed Casie and Nick cringe as Feral spoke; he could understand why.  
  
"Geez, Feral's even more of a jerk in real life than he is in the cartoon! Well, I'm not afraid of him."  
  
Mickey took a deep breath and stepped forward.  
  
"Listen Feral-  
  
"That's Commander Feral," he stated gruffly.  
  
Mickey rolled his eyes; what a blowhard!  
  
"Ok Feral. Anyway, we're not trying to pull a prank. We've got something of Dark Kat's that could destroy Megakat City if he gets his paws on it again."  
  
Feral leaned back into his chair and crossed his arms.  
  
"Oh really?" He asked, unconvinced.  
  
Casie nodded.  
  
"Yes sir," she said politely, "We found it when Mickey, the boy in the red shirt, and I snuck aboard Dark Kat's jet."  
  
As she continued to speak, Mickey pulled out the vial and held it up for Feral to see.  
  
"This vial powered up a really big laser that Dark Kat was gonna use to blow up the city. We took it from him and decided to give it to you. We thought it was the right thing to do, you know?"  
  
From the expression on Feral's face, it was obvious that he didn't believe them. He leaned forward.  
  
"You expect me to believe that you two kittens snuck aboard a ship that only I, a professional enforcer, have managed to do and made it off in one piece? I thought I told you not to waste my time."  
  
Nick stepped forward.  
  
"C'mon, Commander," he pleaded, "I've only known these two for about a half hour, but I know they're telling the truth. Even if they're lying about the vial I saw them walk out of Dark Kat's jet."  
  
Feral sighed impatiently.  
  
"Look, if there's nothing else then leave!" he growled, "I've had enough of this foolishness. You three aren't the first kats to make false allegations, but since you're children I'll let it pass this one time. Now get out!"  
  
Mickey was almost red with anger.  
  
"That total jerk weed! You'd think he would at least try to believe our story, especially when we have something dangerous that belonged to Dark Kat! He really doesn't care about anybody but himself!"  
  
Casie and Nick must have sensed that Mickey was about to blow, because they quickly led him towards the door, through the office, and into the hallway.  
  
"I can't believe that jerk!" Mickey yelled.  
  
"Shhh," Casie said, "You're gonna cause a scene."  
  
Mickey calmed down, but only a little.  
  
"Man, who does that guy think he is?" Nick said angrily, "I never thought he'd be that mean!"  
  
As Nick continued his rant, Mickey noticed a big difference between them; Nick was able to express his anger quietly.  
  
"It takes a lot to get me angry, but when I do I have to shout in order to feel better; he just lets it out softly, like it's no big deal. I wonder how he does it."  
  
Casie stared worriedly at the two boys.  
  
"So, what do we do now?"  
  
Mickey shrugged.  
  
"Well," he said, "I guess there's no reason to stay here; let's go back to the salvage yard and if they're not there, we'll come back and leave it with Felina."  
  
"Sounds good to me," Nick proclaimed.  
  
"Me too," Casie agreed.  
  
They were walking down a long hallway with large glass windows on their left when suddenly they heard a strange sound.  
  
"What's that?" Casie asked.  
  
Mickey stood still, thinking.  
  
"I think I've heard that sound before," he wondered aloud.  
  
"I remember," Nick said, "It's the sound the Turbokat makes when it's hovering in the air."  
  
Simultaneously, they turned their heads towards the windows, but could see nothing.  
  
"Hmmm, I-  
  
That's when Mickey spotted something that looked like the front-end of a missile. As it rapidly drew closer, Mickey confirmed that it was a missile. And it was heading straight for them!  
  
"Oh crud!" he shouted, "RUN!!"  
  
With a speed he didn't even know he had, Mickey ran to the left, barely noticing Casie and Nick running to the right. Suddenly, the world was consumed in fire as a deafening explosion rocked through the building. Pieces of glass bounced off of Mickey's body as he struggled to see through the carnage. Soon, the fire died down to show that half of the hallway had been destroyed. Mickey was unable to see Casie and Nick.  
  
"Oh no," he thought frantically, "What if they didn't move out of the way in time? Please let them be okay!"  
  
Suddenly, he heard a faint voice.  
  
"Mickey! Are you okay?!!"  
  
Through the smoke, Mickey could see two figures standing at the end of the hall. Mickey felt relief surge through him as Nick and Casie stepped through the debris.  
  
"Thank God you're okay!" Casie said as she hugged him.  
  
"Thought we lost you for a minute, dude," Nick said as he gave Mickey a high-five.  
  
"I'm glad you guys are ok, too," he said sincerely, "But where did that missile come from?"  
  
Casie looked at him with terror in her eyes.  
  
"Dark Kat's jet! He must be using his stealth shield!"  
  
Nick gulped.  
  
"In that case, we better get the heck outta here now! We're sitting ducks in this hallway!"  
  
Mickey and Casie nodded, and soon they were running full speed towards the door. All around them they could here the shouts of enforcers and the sound of guns being cocked.  
  
"Man," Mickey thought, "I wish the Swat Kats were here!"  
  
A button on Razor's right side began to beep.  
  
"T-Bone, I'm picking up an emergency broadcast from enforcer headquarters."  
  
"What's up?"  
  
Razor pressed the button and adjusted the volume.  
  
"All available units, report back to base immediately! An unknown assailant has just bombed the building! No causalities as of now. Repeat, all available units report back to base immediately!!"  
  
Razor turned off the radio, a somber expression on his face. T-Bone gritted his teeth.  
  
"Whoever did this is gonna pay!" he growled softly, as he clenched his fists in anger.  
  
"Roger that!" Razor agreed.  
  
Even though Feral had made their lives miserable, enforcers headquarters had been like a second home to them. They had made many friends and it was where they had met for the first time since Jake's family moved away at the beginning of high school. T-Bone turned to look at Razor, a mischievous grin spread across his face.  
  
"Let's kick some tail!" he cried.  
  
That said they flew full-speed towards the headquarters.  
  
Dark Kat couldn't believe it; how had they managed to avoid his missile? He was positive that he had hit them, but was proven wrong as he watched them run towards the end of the hall. Through his radar, he could make out a third child running along side them. Even though he hadn't seen him on his ship, Dark Kat decided to kill him as well; what was one more feline life to him? After a few minutes of debating with himself, Dark Kat decided to get out of the jet and kill them personally.  
  
"It would be more satisfying, anyway," he said to himself.  
  
Just then, he heard the roar of engines and looked at his radar; a jet had landed on the roof close to a hallway adjacent to the destroyed one. In seconds, two figures jumped out of the jet and proceeded into the safe hallway through the ceiling.  
  
"Well, well," Dark Kat mused, "This day keeps getting better and better. I'll get to destroy those little brats and the Swat Kats at the same time! Well, I shouldn't keep them waiting!"  
  
Dark Kat landed his jet on the roof next to them, and dropped down the hole that they had created. He happened to land directly to the left of both of them. Instantly, the Swat Kats pointed their glovatrixes at Dark Kat; judging from their faces they weren't happy to see him.  
"We're takin' you down, Dark Kat!" the big one said angrily.  
  
"And you won't be gettin' back up until you're locked away at Alkatraz!" said the smaller one.  
  
Dark Kat chuckled.  
  
"We'll see about that, Swat Kats!" he cried as he quickly pointed a gun at them, "As soon as my true enemies join us, we'll have the battle that I'm so looking forward to!"  
  
T-Bone lowered his head to Razor's level.  
  
"I think this guy's finally lost it," he whispered into Razor's ear.  
  
Mickey could hear voices on the other side of the door, but decided that they would just have to take their chances; it was suicide to stand still in one place. Bursting through the door, they were stunned at what they saw; on the left side of the hall was Dark Kat and on the right side of the hall was.  
  
"It's them! Mickey thought excitedly, despite their current situation, "I can't believe it. I'm finally meeting my idols!! Oh man, this is so sweet!"  
  
"It's them," Nick whispered, awestruck, "They're really real!"  
  
Casie cupped her hand over his mouth.  
  
"Be quiet!" she hissed, "You don't want Dark Kat to hear us!"  
  
Mickey slowly edged his way towards Dark Kat; he had a plan, but he needed to get in front of Dark Kat in order to execute it. He whispered his plan to Casie and Nick as they made their way towards Dark Kat's back. Meanwhile, Feral, Felina, and several other enforcers had just entered the hallway and were standing behind the Swat Kats. Turning around, T-Bone and Razor let out short growls when they saw the Commander. Feral was equally unhappy.  
  
"What are you lawless vigilantes doing here!?" he barked.  
  
"Trying to save your tail, Feral!" T-Bone growled.  
  
Dark Kat chuckled.  
  
"No need for such bickering," he assured them, "I plan to keep all of you busy, once my true enemies arrive."  
  
Razor raised his glovatrix to Dark Kat's head.  
  
"Just who are these "true enemies" you keep talkin' about?"  
  
"Why don't you ask them yourself?"  
  
Suddenly, with amazing speed, Dark Kat reached behind him, grabbed Mickey by the shirt, and threw him in front of everyone. Mickey's heart leapt to his throat as he stared up at Dark Kat's grinning face.  
  
"It seems that everyone has arrived," he announced as he looked down on Mickey, "Now then little boy. Where is my Katalyst 234? If you give it to me now, I may let you and your friends live."  
  
From the tone of his voice, that possibility seemed highly unlikely. Mickey was about to wet his pants when suddenly, he felt a familiar calm and confidence pass over him. With a smirk, Mickey pulled out the vial and began to execute his plan.  
  
"You want it?" Mickey asked in a challenging tone, "Then go get it, Dork Kat!!"  
  
Mickey cocked his arm back and threw the vial over Dark Kat's head. It landed directly in Nick's hand and the two quickly turned and sprinted down the hall.  
  
"NOOO!!!" Dark Kat bellowed angrily.  
  
T-Bone leapt forward and fired a bola missile out of his glovatrix; it hit Dark Kat, trapping him in a wire-mesh net.  
  
"Nice shootin', buddy," Razor commented as he gave his partner a thumbs-up.  
  
T-Bone grinned as he clenched his paw into a fist.  
  
"It's all in the wrist," he said smoothly.  
  
Comm. Feral and the other enforcers moved in to detain Dark Kat; suddenly, he reached up and tore the net in half! He quickly back-pawed several enforcers, including Feral, knocking them unconscious. T-Bone, Razor, and Felina backed up to the wall, glovatrixes and gun raised high.  
  
"Don't move you lousy psycho!" Felina ordered, "And let the kitten go!"  
  
"I'm afraid I can't do that Lieutenant," he said casually, "As you've clearly witnessed, he and his friends stole something very valuable to me."  
  
He turned to look at Mickey.  
  
"Now, they'll have to be punished," he said as his eyes grew an even brighter red.  
  
As he spoke, Mickey reached into his pockets and pulled out his card reader and cards. He quickly rifled through his cards, thankful that the one he was looking for was near the top. He stood up with the card and his card reader, a confident smirk on his face.  
  
"How 'bout we give you a time-out?" he quipped.  
  
Mickey raised his card reader up over his head, slit side up, and raised the card over his head as well. He slashed the card through the reader. He heard a strange whirring noise and felt a warm breeze pass through him. He looked down and noticed small strands of fog swirling around his feet. Suddenly, he knew exactly what to do.  
  
"Digi-modify!" he called out.  
  
When the card slashed completely through the slit, he called out the name of the card he'd chosen.  
  
"Glovatrix, activate!"  
  
Instantly, a glovatrix formed on his left hand. Mickey noticed that each compartment was labeled with different missiles and contraptions, five for each finger. He stared at it in amazement.  
  
"Wow, a real glovatrix! This is so cool! Now I just gotta figure out which missile to use on him."  
  
Thinking frantically, Mickey picked the one missile that he hadn't heard of on the show.  
  
"Tazor missile, deploy!" he shouted and he squeezed his index finger.  
  
A small black missile shot out of the glovatrix and hit Dark Kat in the chest. Dark Kat began to scream in pain; his body shook violently as bolts of electricity shot through him. Mickey watched in horror; he never imagined that he could really hurt Dark Kat. Soon, Dark Kat fell to the ground, unconscious. Razor fired a bola missile on Dark Kat, trapping him once again. Felina quickly moved in and put paw cuffs on him. She turned to the Swat Kats and smiled.  
  
"Thanks Swat Kats," she said gratefully, "You really helped us out."  
  
She then turned to Mickey.  
  
"Especially you. You'll make a great enforcer when you grow up!"  
  
T-Bone and Razor nodded.  
  
"Yeah, ya did good, kitten," T-Bone replied as he gave Mickey The Smile.  
  
Mickey grinned and rubbed the back of his head; never in his wildest dreams would he have imagined that he would be given a compliment by the Swat Kats.  
  
"Just glad I could help," he said cheerfully.  
  
Just then, he heard a door close. He turned around and saw Nick and Casie walking toward him.  
  
"Yeah, you got him!"Casie exclaimed as they approached him.  
  
"We saw that whole digi-modify thing," Nick commented, "that was awesome!"  
  
Mickey grinned and gave them a thumbs-up. He wanted to talk with the Swat Kats some more, but Comm. Feral decided to regain consciousness at that exact moment. Moaning and rubbing his head, he spotted the vial of Katalyst 234 in Nick's hand. Without so much as a "May I?" he snatched the vial from Nick and stared at it curiously.  
  
"So this is what Dark Kat was after," he said as he turned to face Felina, "Where do you think we should stick this?"  
  
Mickey looked at Casie and Nick; both were trying not to laugh. He considered letting that comment slide but decide against it; Feral was a Grade-A jerk and the opportunity was too good to pass up.  
  
"Well Commander," he said in as serious a tone as he could muster, "I can think of a few places where you could stick it."  
  
For a moment everyone was silent; Comm. Feral stood with a shocked look on his face. The silence ended as everyone, including Felina and the other enforcers, erupted into laughter. Feral's face grew beet-red with anger as he stomped toward Mickey. For a moment, Mickey thought that he actually meant to hit him; instead, Feral pointed a finger directly into Mickey's face.  
  
"How dare you!!?" he shouted, "Do you know who you're talking to!?"  
  
"How dare you!" Mickey said, now genuinely angry, "If you had just listened to us before, none of this would've happened!"  
  
Nick and Casie nodded their heads in agreement.  
  
"Yeah," Nick joined, "We're not the ones who were too stubborn to even consider that what we said might be true!"  
  
Casie now pointed her finger at him.  
  
"If you really cared about protecting the people-I, I mean kats, then you would've taken the vial and actually done your job for a change!"  
  
Now the hallway was dead silent; only the Swat Kats wore neutral expressions on their faces. Feral's face was now impossibly red and he balled his fists in anger. Mickey stared worriedly at the sight; maybe they took it a little too far. Feral began to huff, vaguely resembling the Big Bad Wolf, turned around and stomped towards his office. Wisely, the enforcers quickly moved out of his way. Felina turned and shook the paws of the Swat Kats, and the hands of the kids, with a half-smile on her face.  
  
"We're gonna be paying for that all week," she quipped, "Oh well. Thanks again, Swat Kats and kittens."  
  
As she entered the office, T-Bone and Razor turned to the kids and grinned.  
  
"You guys are officially our heroes," T-Bone said.  
  
"Yeah," Razor added, "We've never even bad-mouthed Feral like that before."  
  
Mickey only half-listened to their praises as he studied them, trying to see how they looked in real life compared to the cartoon. T-Bone had the same brown tiger stripes on his arms and the same yellow fur, but what Mickey noticed instantly was his physique. T-Bone was taller and way more muscular than in the cartoon; he reminded Mickey of some promo sheets of T- Bone he once saw on the Strike's Swat Kats Zone website. The huge, well- defined arms, the solid, powerful chest and torso, and the massive legs were all there, right in front of him. He was easily the most intimidating kat Mickey had ever seen. Casie leaned toward him.  
  
"He's so sexy," she whispered giddily in his ear.  
  
Mickey nodded in agreement; no wonder the she kats were all over him.  
  
Razor, on the other hand, looked almost exactly like he did in the cartoon. The only differences were that he was more muscular than the average kat (but he was still a pencil-neck compared to T-Bone) and his fur was more reddish than cinnamon.  
  
Nick sighed and put his hands in his pockets.  
  
"Well, I guess you guys are gonna head back to the salvage yard, right?" he asked casually.  
  
Casie quickly clapped a hand over his mouth, but it was too late. T-Bone and Razor looked at him in surprise.  
  
"What're you talking about?" Razor said nervously, "What salvage yard? You're talkin' crazy!"  
  
Mickey sighed and stepped forward.  
  
"I guess we might as well tell you," he explained, "We know who you guys really are. You", he pointed to T-Bone, "are Chance Furlong and you", he pointed to Razor, "are Jake Clawson. You guys use to be enforcers, but something really sucky happened one day. You got a call that Dark Kat had been spotted and were ordered to go after him."  
  
He turned and looked at Casie, who took her hand off of Nick's mouth and continued the story.  
  
"You were in your jet chasing Dark Kat, when all of a sudden Comm. Feral radioed in and told you two to back off. You both knew that he was just gonna take all the glory and honor for himself, so you refused. Feral was so angry that he shot ahead of you and ended up piercing your jet. You guys ejected just as your jet crashed into Enforcer Headquarters. If that wasn't bad enough, Feral couldn't keep track of Dark Kat for two seconds and ended up losing him."  
  
As if on cue, Nick narrated the last of the events to come.  
  
"Feral, being the power-hungry doushbag that he is, blamed you guys for destroying the headquarters, even though it was really all his fault. When you tried to stand up for yourselves, he kicked you off the force and made you guys auto mechanics at the salvage yard so you could pay back the cost of rebuilding Enforcer Headquarters. You still wanted to fight crime, and that's when Jake noticed all of the military salvage and came up with an idea; Why not build your own jet and fight crime the way you guys want to, since Feral obviously can't."  
  
Mickey smiled and gave them a thumbs-up.  
  
"And that's when you guys became the Swat Kats!"  
  
T-Bone and Razor stared at each other in awe; these kittens had described that event like they had witnessed it!  
  
"Who are you guys?" Razor asked.  
  
"My name is Mickey Burnin," Mickey said smiling, "this is Casie Taylor and Nick Mancini."  
  
Casie and Nick smiled.  
  
"Nice to meet' cha!" Casie said cheerfully.  
  
"We should talk by the Turbokat; can't have any enforcers hearing this," T-Bone interjected.  
  
A few minutes later, all five were standing by the cockpit of the Turbokat while Casie and Nick explained the circumstances of their meeting.  
  
"Let me get this straight," T-Bone reviewed while scratching his head, "You guys are kittens from a different planet where Razor and I are a cartoon show?"  
  
Casie and Nick nodded.  
  
"Only we're not called kittens," Nick stated, "We're kids."  
  
"We're human beings," Casie said as she held up her arm for the Swat Kats to see, "See? No fur. Well, not much anyway."  
  
Razor lightly ran his paw over her arm, causing Casie to giggle.  
  
"Can't believe we didn't notice it before," Razor commented.  
  
"Hey c'mon, that tickles!" she said in between laughs.  
  
Just then, Mickey returned from the bathroom and began to make his way towards the others.  
  
"Yo, Mickey," Nick called out, "C'mere. We're just about to tell T- Bone and Razor what Earth is like!"  
  
Mickey grinned excitedly; this was gonna be so cool! Mickey was so excited that he didn't even register that he was in trouble until T-Bone ran towards him and knocked him to the ground. A split second later, he heard and felt the intense speed of a missile as it whizzed right by where he had been standing.  
  
"No way," he thought as panic set in, " If Dark Kat did that then Feral is even more useless than I thought!"  
  
The others ran up to T-Bone and Mickey. Once they discovered that everyone still had their major limbs attached, the five turned their heads to face their attacker. Once Mickey saw who it was, he couldn't stop himself from staring.  
  
"It's her!" he thought incredulously, "The girl from my dream, she's real!"  
  
The girl lowered the glovatrix she was wearing, removed her sunglasses, and spoke in a condescending tone.  
  
"Man, you sure are a lousy fighter. If T-Bone hadn't have helped you out, you'd be toast right now!"  
  
T-Bone, who was still holding Mickey in his arms to act as a shield, shook in anger while unconsciously squeezing him. Mickey winced in pain; he could feel the strength and power in those arms.  
  
"What the heck's the matter with you?!!" Nick yelled in anger.  
  
"Are you crazy??!!" Casie screamed.  
  
T-Bone released Mickey and spoke while standing up; there was a dangerous tone to his voice.  
  
"I don't know what your deal is," he growled, "but I don't hit kittens or kids or whatever you are, so if ya say you're sorry and leave now we'll forget the whole thing."  
  
The girl tried to act cool, but T-Bone could see the fear in her eyes. Mickey decided that he had to get some answers from her, so he stood up and took several steps toward her. T-Bone moved to stop him and Mickey held up his hand and shook his head.  
  
"You're the girl that I dreamed about," Mickey said.  
  
She raised her eyebrows in confusion.  
  
"What're you talking about?" she asked.  
  
"I had a dream about you; you were fighting Dr. Viper on the streets and when you beat him, you turned him into computer data with your card reader."  
  
The girl looked at him with an annoyed expression.  
  
"So you're a lousy fighter and you're weird? Just my luck."  
  
Razor, who seemed to be the calmest, stepped forward.  
  
"Look, we're not gonna hurt you unless you attack us again, so why don't you just leave; we've all had enough surprises for one day."  
  
She frowned in disappointment.  
  
"You know, you're not as cute as I thought you'd be," she said smugly.  
  
That comment made T-Bone even angrier.  
  
"Don't you get it? You almost killed him!!" he yelled.  
  
The girl shook her head and sighed.  
  
"Well, duhhhh," she replied, "that was the whole point. When he beat Dark Kat, he stole the points I needed to get to first place."  
  
Everyone turned to look at each other, confusion running across their faces.  
  
"You think this is a game?" Razor asked in disbelief.  
  
The girl nodded. Mickey abruptly stood up as anger raced through his body; he almost got killed by someone because she thought he had stolen her points in some stupid game!!?  
  
"This isn't a game!!" he shouted, "It's real. You didn't almost virtually kill me, you almost really killed me!"  
  
The girl seemed to ignore him as she stepped towards him.  
  
"Stalling won't help ya," she said smugly, "Don't be such a baby; you can always restart from the last place you saved."  
  
Mickey held up his hands as if she was about to punch him.  
  
"Look," he said, a nervous tone creeping into his voice, "I don't wanna fight you. Can't we just talk about this?"  
  
The girl now looked angry.  
  
"I knew you were just a little boy on a sight-seeing tour!" she said, "Whad'ya think this place was made for anyway, you goofy little dork?"  
  
Mickey was stunned to silence; she actually thought that this was a game!  
  
"Awright," T-Bone said in frustration, "I've had enough of this crud. Either you go away or we'll make ya go away!"  
  
"And trust us, you don't want us to make you go away," Razor threatened.  
  
The girl shrugged her shoulders and put her sunglasses back on.  
  
"Fine," she said exasperatley, "I've got a test on mixed fractions to study for, anyway."  
  
As she turned to leave, Casie called out.  
  
"Wait; at least tell us your name."  
  
Without turning around, the girl replied.  
  
"It's Roxanne Dufeau, alright?"  
  
Without another word, Roxanne walked towards the edge of the building. Suddenly, in a small flash of light, she disappeared. For a moment, no one said anything as they tried to make sense of the event that just transpired.  
  
"Man," Nick exclaimed, "What's up with her?"  
  
"I can't believe she thinks that this place is some game," Casie said.  
  
"Yeah," Mickey mused, "But even though she tried to kill me, I think she was a really good fighter. It woulda been sweet if she joined us."  
  
At this comment, T-Bone and Razor looked at each with confusion.  
  
"Uh Mickey," T-Bone said suspiciously, "Joined us?"  
  
Mickey rubbed the back of head and smiled as his face grew red with embarrassment.  
  
"Yeah," he said shyly, "Casie and Nick and I were.kinda hopin' that.maybe, uh.you guys would, uh. ya know.let us join your team, maybe?"  
  
Casie and Nick nodded their heads.  
  
"Please," Casie pleaded, "We really wanna help you guys fight bad guys and keep the city safe. We've got plenty of weapon cards to use, so you want have to make any extra gear."  
  
Nick nodded.  
  
"Yeah," he added encouragingly, "and we won't tell anyone who you guys are, we promise!"  
  
Mickey clasped his hands together and got down on his knees.  
  
"Please? We really wanna help you guys!"  
  
The Swat Kats looked at each other in uncertainty.  
  
"Uhh, could ya give us a minute?" Razor asked.  
  
T-Bone and Razor huddled up and whispered for several minutes. Finally, they turned toward the kids.  
  
"We'll need some time to think about it," T-Bone stated, "Come to the salvage yard tomorrow, around two o' clock, and we'll tell ya then."  
  
"Cool!" Mickey cried as he gave them a thumbs-up.  
  
As the Swat Kats climbed into the Turbokat, They gave the kids thumbs-up.  
  
"Thanks again for helpin' us out," Razor shouted as the Turbokat's engines roared.  
  
With a loud boom, the Turbokat rocketed off towards the setting sun. Mickey, Casie, and Nick stood silently on the rooftop as a light breeze blew through them. Finally, Mickey spoke.  
  
"This has been the coolest, most awesome day ever!" he exclaimed.  
  
"Yeah, it sure was," Casie replied sleepily.  
  
Nick yawned and stretched his arms.  
  
"I'll think about how cool this day was tomorrow," he said, exhaustion flowing through his voice, "But right now I gotta get some sleep."  
  
"Yeah," Mickey said, "We'd better go; tonight's pizza night at my house and I don't wanna miss that."  
  
After the elevator ride that seemed like an eternity, they stepped onto the street. They soon discovered that the white button in the middle of their card readers could create a beam whenever they pressed it. Soon, they found themselves back in the same alley where Mickey and Casie had discovered the first beam. After exchanging phone numbers, addresses, and e-mails the three children managed to drag themselves back to their homes and collapse on their beds.  
  
Oct. 10, 2003 Key West 10:30 p.m.  
  
Gabriel Mcintyre leaned back in his chair and stared at the monitor-filled wall in front of him. So far, the night had been uneventful and he was just about to go home when Riley, one of his research assistants, spoke up.  
  
"Sir," she said in a monotone voice, "Sensors have picked up an electrical anomaly near South Beach."  
  
"Hmmm,"he grunted in response, "See if you can get an analysis and report back to me with the results; we'll call it a day after that."  
  
"Yes sir," she said.  
  
Gabe headed to the executive washroom, changed into his civvies, and stepped out of the tall, plastic-encased building. He took a moment to breathe in the warm night air and smile; it wasn't very often that his staff was able to leave at their appointed times, especially with the appearance of numerous Outsiders they had been seeing recently.  
  
"If I'm lucky I might be able to go to the beach tomorrow," he thought jokingly.  
  
Fat chance. Suddenly, his cell phone began to ring.  
  
"Yes?" he stated.  
  
"Sir," Riley said anxiously, "I've just received the analysis of the anomaly."  
  
Lucas frowned; Riley sounded anxious and she wasn't someone who lost her cool easily.  
  
"It.It's a warp field, sir."  
  
"Alright," he said in a confused tone, "but why do you sound so upset about it? Warp fields materialize all the time."  
  
"Yes sir, but this warp field was purposely created!"  
  
"It can't be," he replied in disbelief, "Are you sure?"  
  
"Absolutely, and according to the log book it was created over three hours ago."  
  
"Three hours!" he said angrily, "Why wasn't I told about it?!"  
  
"At the time, we thought it was just another warp field," she replied in fear, "What should we do?"  
  
Gabe sighed.  
  
"It's been a long day," he said exasperatly, "Tell the rest of the staff to go home and we'll worry about it tomorrow."  
  
Riley was silent, as if she were debating on whether or not to obey him.  
  
"Yes sir," she finally replied.  
  
Gabe turned off his cell phone, his good mood now turned sour.  
  
"That warp field couldn't have been made; only my staff has the technology capable to create them! It couldn't have been an information leak; Chronosis is an agency so secret that not even the CIA knows about us. What could this mean?"  
  
"Well, well. It seems that even the great Gabriel Mcintyre gets rattled at times!"  
  
Gabe turned toward the direction of the voice and found Agent 5 leaning against the trunk of a palm tree.  
  
"Agent 5," Gabe responded authoritatively, "You may be the assistant director of this agency, but I will not tolerate insubordination from anyone."  
  
Agent 5 smiled smugly.  
  
"I apologize sir," he replied, "I just received a call from Riley; do you think it's possible that that warp field was man-made?"  
  
"I doubt it. But just in case, I want you and several agents to accompany me to the sight where this warp field was supposedly created first thing in the morning."  
  
"Yes sir," Agent 5 replied, "Do you think there will be any Outsiders to capture?"  
  
Gabe detected a hint of pleasure in his voice when he said this.  
  
"Perhaps," Gabe replied coldly, "If there are, you know what to do."  
  
"Yes," Agent 5 said as he walked away, "Well, good night sir. I'll see you at South Beach tomorrow."  
  
A menacing sneer spread across Gabe's face; Agent 5 was one of the most cold-hearted, ruthless agents he had ever met; but Gabe was much more cold- hearted and ruthless.  
  
"You would do well not to cross me, Agent 5. The last agent that did had his remains mailed to his wife and baby girl."  
  
As he made his way towards his car, Gabe decided that tomorrow a pep talk was in order for the entire staff; they needed a reminder of who was the biggest, baddest, meanest shark in this ocean. Chuckling to himself, Gabe started his engine and headed home.  
  
Oct. 11, 2003 Key West 10:00 a.m.  
  
Casie woke up to the sound of birds chirping and a warm, gentle breeze blowing through her room. She felt a rush of nervousness and excitement; today was the day that the Swat Kats would decide if she and the others could join their team.  
  
"They have to let us on their team," she thought confidently, "Mickey and I stole something from Dark Kat's jet and got away with it! Even Comm. Feral got captured when he snuck aboard the jet."  
  
She decided not to worry about it and proceeded to get ready for church.  
  
For as exhausted as he had been, Nick hadn't been able to get much sleep. He was too excited; he, Mickey, and Casie could become part of the Swat Kats team! He was so excited that he didn't notice Nina, his 5-year-old sister, until she was bouncing on his bed.  
  
Almost reflexively, Nick said, "Get outta my room!"  
  
Nina lowered her head, as if she were examining her shoes.  
  
"Awww," she said in a hurt tone, "I just wanted to play with the bestest big brother in the whole world!"  
  
Nick rolled his eyes; she had pulled this routine on their parents more times than he could count and he was a little tired of it. Still, when she made her eyes big and sad he couldn't help but feel pity for her. He sighed in futility.  
  
"Fine, just don't touch anything; Dad'll have a meltdown if any of this computer stuff gets broken."  
  
Nina let out a short cry of happiness and proceeded to skip around the room. Nick giggled inwardly; she looked like an Easter egg, with her lime green shirt and pink shorts. Only her black hair in two short pigtails ruined the illusion. As Nina left to get her Barbie dolls, Nick started thinking about the T-Bone and Razor's decision.  
  
"Man, I hope they say yes; it would be so awesome to help them fight supervillians. I wonder if Mickey and Casie are as nervous as I am."  
  
"Mickey," his dad asked as he, Helen, and his son ate around the dining table, "Your mom and I have noticed that you've been really quiet these past couple of days."  
  
Mickey glanced up from his bowl of Special K.  
  
"Somethin' wrong with being quiet?" he snapped.  
  
His parents looked at him in shock. Mickey sighed; he hadn't even joined the Swat Kats yet and he was already getting too old for it.  
  
"Sorry," he replied with an apologetic smile, "It's just that school has been getting really tough lately and I haven't been getting a lot of sleep."  
  
His mother smiled and gently held his hand.  
  
"Well if there's ever anything you need to talk about, dad and I are always here."  
  
Mickey sighed inwardly; he appreciated his parents' sentiments but he couldn't tell them about how much his reality had changed in the course of two days; they wouldn't understand.  
  
"They'd stop me from joining the Swat Kats, that's for sure. I know it'll be dangerous, and I could even be killed, but I want to be a hero, for my dad, my mom, and even for my-  
  
Mickey stopped that train of thought before it started, no point in thinking about that now. Mickey smiled; there was nothing to worry about. Even if the Swat Kats wouldn't let them join, they could still visit them and cheer them on from the streets. The only problem now was figuring out what to do for the next four hours.  
  
Oct. 11, 2003 Chance and Jake's Auto Repair Shop 1:30 p.m.  
  
Chance and Jake sat on the couch in their living room, still debating on whether or not to let Mickey, Casie, and Nick join them. So far, they were pretty divided.  
  
"There just kittens," Jake stated for the umpteenth time, "You know how hard it'll be to cover the backs of three kittens?"  
  
"Yeah, but it's not like there defenseless or anything; they've got those weird plastic thingies that can make glovatrixes and weapons and stuff," Chance countered.  
  
"But.but.," Jake struggled, "I'm no good with kittens; they really bug me."  
  
Chance smiled, grabbed Jake, and proceeded to give him a noogie.  
  
"Awww, you'll get over it buddy," he said playfully.  
  
They both started to laugh until Jake decided that he'd had enough and begged for mercy.  
  
"C'mon Jake," Chance said, "You're always sayin' how much we need the extra help; this way we'll have three more teammates who can make equipment a heck of a lot faster than we can."  
  
Jake sighed; he knew that Chance would just keep giving him atomic noogies until he agreed anyway.  
  
"Alright, alright," he said exasperatley, "They can join, but we should teach them some basic enforcer moves; can't have them totally clueless during their first fight."  
  
"You know it," Chance said as he switched the TV channel to Scaredy Kat.  
  
Oct. 11, 2003 Chance and Jake's Auto Repair Shop 2:00 p.m.  
  
Mickey, Nick, and Casie sat on the couch in Chance and Jake's living room. Chance and Jake were staring at them sternly, arms folded across their chests. Mickey gulped; he felt like he had been sent to the principal's office. Jake spoke first.  
  
"Well, Chance and I have talked about it and we've decided," he said in a somber tone.  
  
They looked at one another in disappointment; they had a feeling they knew where this was going. Chance looked at them and suddenly smiled.  
  
"We've decided that you guys are in!" he said joyfully.  
  
For a moment, the kids didn't say anything. When that moment passed, they each shouted in joy and thanked Chance and Jake in their own ways; Nick and Mickey gave them high-fives and Casie hugged them until they both begged for mercy.  
  
"You guys are the coolest!" Mickey proclaimed.  
  
"Yeah, we know," Chance said.  
  
"Since you guys are a part of the team now", Jake said as Nick released him, "We gotta give you the grand tour."  
  
That being said, Chance and Jake started leading them down into the secret hangar. Mickey paid careful attention as they pointed out specific places in the hangar, but he couldn't contain his excitement; he was actually officially a part of the Swat Kats! He wondered about all of the missions and adventures that he would be having from now on.  
  
"One thing's for sure; I won't have to complain about there never being anymore episodes!" 


End file.
